
Class__ BS&L 

Book VVl^_ 



Copyright N° 



.,o ' IP ^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



NOTES 



—ON— 



PHARMACOGNOSY. 



SECOND EDITION, 

REVISED AND ENLARGED. 



BY 

Otto A. Wall, Ph. G., M. D., 

Professor of Materia Medica, Botany and Pharmacognosy in the St 
I,ouis College of Pharmacy; Second Vice-President of the Com- 
mittee for the Revision of the Pharmocopoeia of the United 
States; author of The Prescription; one of the 
authors of the Companion to the United States 
Pharmacopoeia; author of System of 
Pharmacognosy, E)tc. 



■ * 



; 



PUBLISHED BY THE 

AUG. GAST BANK NOTE AND UTHO. CO., 

St. L/Ouis, Mo. 

1902. 



THE LIBRARY OF 
CONGRESS, 


Two Copies Received 


FEB 1 


1903 


Copyright 
CLASS Ou 


Entry « 
XXc. No. 


14- it W- C\ 
1 COPY 


/ 

8. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year ltt>2, by 

OTTO A. WALL, M. D., Ph. G., 

In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C 



ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 



PREFACE. 



The object of this book is mainly to serve as notes 
on pharmacognosy (Waaren-Kunde) for the students 
in colleges of pharmacy. No student can listen to a 
course of lectures and derive full benefit therefrom un- 
less he makes memoranda of the most salient features of 
the lectures. On the other hand, many teachers main- 
tain that while the student is making note of some fact 
or other, he will give superficial attention or miss alto- 
gether something else about which the lecturer is 
meanwhile speaking, so that the advantage of "taking 
notes'* is offset by the information lost while taking 
them. These Notes are intended to take the place 
of notes which a diligent student might possibly write 
down for himself, so that during the lectures he can 
give undivided attention to the words of the lecturer, 
and to the illustrations and specimens shown. 

These Notes serve as a skeleton of the science of 
pharmacognosy, presenting only those main facts 
which a student should make an effort to remember, 
and around which he can later on gather and arrange 
further knowledge that may be acquired in post- 
graduate study; irrelevant descriptions and illustra- 
tions of plants from which drugs are derived, etc., are 
therefore omitted, and the illustrations represent the 
drugs themselves, as far as possible in natural size, 
and are intended to take the place of a collection of 
drugs as near as may be. Histological details that are 
not necessary in recognizing (crude) drugs are not 
made prominent, and many of the sections represent 
the appearance that can be observed with the naked 



eye or by aid of a simple lens. For instance: In the 
case of barks the examination is readily made by a 
smooth cut across the bark, moistening the cut end 
and examining with the unaided eye, or with a lens 
magnifying from three to ten diameters; the structure 
which can thus be seen is sufficient to enable us to 
identify the barks, and this is, therefore, all that is 
necessary or of direct practical use in pharmacognosy. 

The system adopted is based on the general prin- 
ciples of modern pharmacognosy as established and 
first published in Kurope by Schleiden and Berg, and 
in this country by Maisch; but in many details the 
arrangement is original. The numbering of the groups 
has been found of great practical value and conven- 
ience in the actual work done with the aid of this 
system by the students in the author's own classes. 

The author realizes that these rather compendious 
Notes on Pharmacognosy are an introduction to 
the study of systematic pharmacognosy rather than a 
"work" on the subject, yet he submits the book to the 
kind consideration of the pharmaceutical public with 
the hope that it may contribute towards popularizing 
this study and lead many to become interested in this 
useful branch of knowledge. 

Respectfully, the author, 



O. A. WALIv. 



November, 1902. 



t! 



Notes on Pharmacognosy. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The medical profession is divided into two branches: 
physicians who prescribe for the sick, and pharmacists who 
dispense the medicines. This division of labor has existed 
for thousands of years, probably because experience has 
taught that this arrangement is better and safer than when 
the same person prescribes and dispenses also. 

To heal the sick has always been the aim of the medi- 
cal profession. Healing the sick presupposes an organism 
which is endowed with life, and the physician must study 
both the organism and its environments in order that he 
may intelligently treat any departure from health. 

Certain rudimentary studies are necessary for all learned 
men, whatever their professions maybe. These studies are 
comprised in the phrase, " good, common school education " 
(better still, " collegiate education''), and include the 
"three R's," grammar, history, geography (including 
physical geography), physics or natural philosophy and the 
rudiments of the Latin language. 

The studies of special interest to the medical profession 
are: — 

Physics — Chemistry — Microscopy. 

Organism < structure: Anatomy . j ^- oplcal(IIl8tology , 
Health. (Action: Physiology. 

Organism [Structure: Path oiegical Anatomy, j ^croscopicr.!. 

in < Action: Pathology. 
Disease. [ Treatment: pharmacology. 

(5) 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



FUNDAMENTAL STUDIES. 



Physics or Natural Philosophy treats of the mechanical 
laws and molecular forces. There is no absolute line of 
distinction between this study and 

Chemistry, which treats of the atomic constitution of 
matter and explains the composition of all material things 
and tke changes that may take place in the atomic combina- 
tions. 

Microscopy is not, strictly speaking, a science but rather 
an art, because it teaches the use of the microscope and its 
various accessories, but the knowledge it imparts is not of 
use only to the medical profession, but is of equal value to 
every scientist and of interest to every educated person. 

These three studies maybe called the foundation on which 
is to be built up the superstructure of a thorough scientific 
education in any department of physical sciences. 

SPECIAL STUDIES. 

Anatomy teaches the structure of living organisms; 
human anatomy treats of the organs and structure of the 
human body. There is no sharp limit between " coarse 
anatomy " (structures that can be seen with the unaided 
eye) and "microscopical anatomy" (requiring the use of 
the microscope) and this division is one mainly of conve- 
nience. 

Histology treats of the microscopical or cellular structure 
of living organisms. Human histology, therefore, treats of 
the cellular elements and tissues of the human body. 

Physiology treats of the processes of life — healthy organ- 
isms; in health the various cells, tissues and organs act har- 
moniously together. In youth assimilation of food exceeds 
waste and the organism grows until it reaches maturity ; then 
for a time assimilation and waste balance each other, until age 
approaches, when waste gradually gains over assimilation, 
the tissues lose their vigor and a gradual decay sets in which 
finally results in death from old age. This is the healthy, 
normal destiny of the living organism. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. / 

Histology and physiology are so intimately related to each 
other that it is impossible to treat of one without speaking 
of the other, and the two branches of study are therefore 
usually taught together. 

When the normal harmony of action in the body is dis- 
turbed, we call the resulting condition " disease. " 

Pathological Anatomy is the study of the changes that are 
produced in the normal anatomy by the processes of disease; 
some of these changes are macroscopic and can be seen with 
the unaided eye, while the changes in the minuter structures, 
as in cells or tissues, require the aid of the microscope for 
recognition. Pathological anatomy is the anatomy of the 
body in disease. 

Pathology bears the same relation to pathological anatomy 
that physiology has to normal anatomy. It describes the 
actions of the organs or tissues in disease. 

Any or all of these branches of study may be subdivided 
or specialized according to the needs of the physician. 

The physician must know the human body in health so 
that he may recognize those departures from the normal that 
constitute sickness. He is thus enabled to make a diagnosis, 
i. e., he can say what is the nature of the abnormal or dis- 
eased condition. The prognosis is the foretelling of the 
probable course of the disease. 

But the o"b]ect of all study on the part of physicians and 
pharmacists is to cure the patient, and the treatment of dis- 
ease requires a knowledge of 

Pharmacology, the science of remedies and remedial 
measures. It is a comprehensive term and in its widest 
i-ense includes the study of everything that has, or is sup- 
posed to have, or that can have any influ- nee in curing dis- 
ease; an inquiry into the efficacy or inefficacy of prayers or 
laying on of hands is as legitimately within the scope of phar- 
macology as a study of the action of calomel or quinine. 
The term Materia Medica is often used as a synonym for 
pharmacology, but a fairer distinction of the term would 
limit its application to material things, to " medical 
materials. " 



8 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Pharmacology demands a knowledge of several important 
subsidiary branches of knowledge. 



Pharma- 
cology. 



«■—«■* I sssssr 1 - 

S Zoology. 
Botany. 

Medica.) Pharmacy j g^SSST L 

[pharmaco- Dynamics | gp^-JJ 1, | Therapeutics. 

While anatomy, physiology, pathology, etc., are of more 
interest to the physician, a general knowledge of these 
studies is also necessary for the pharmacist so that he may 
more fully understand those branches of the medical science 
which more closely concern him. A student of pharmacy 
should acquire at least as much knowledge on these subjects 
as can be obtained from the careful study of some good 
college physiology, which treats of these subjects in a sim- 
ple, plain and compendious manner. 

The scheme of studies enumerated under Pharmacology is 
of direct and great importance to the pharmacist, even more 
so than to the physician, with the single exception of phar- 
macodynamics, which is of greater importance to the physi- 
cian and of subordinate use to the pharmacist. 

Chemistry and Microscopy we have already considered. 
In colleges of pharmacy these studies are not only of as 
general a nature as in technical schools, but are taught with 
additional special reference to the pharmacists' work. 

Medicines are material substances, which may either be 
taken into the system or applied locally, and which, when in 
contact with living tissues, can alter the action of cells or 
tissues in such a manner as to cure disease. What may at 
one time and in one dose be a medicine, may under other 
circumstances or in a different dose prove to be a, poison. 

Medicines are prepared from organic or inorganic ma- 
terials. We often read the sign " Drugs and Chemicals." 
Chemistry, as taught in colleges of pharmacy, treats of the 
general science, and of the individual inorganic and syn- 
thetic chemicals that are used as medicines. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 9 

Pharmacognosy is the knowledge of drugs; drugs are the 
organic substances used in medicine and in the arts in the 
crude form in which they are brought into trade. Phar- 
macognosy teaches us how to identify drugs and how to 
determine their quality. 

Drugs are of either animal or vegetable origin. A study 
of animal drugs requires some knowledge of zoology, but as 
the animal drugs are of subordinate value or importance, 
zoology need not be studied to any great extent. Vegetable 
drugs are of vastly greater importance and therefore a 
knowledge of 

Botany is absolutely necessary to an understanding of 
pharmacognosy. The pharmacognocist must be able to 
recognize the part of plant which constitutes the drug, and 
he must not only be familiar with its coarse but also with 
its microscopical structure, and the value of a study of 
microscopy for the pharmacognocist cannot be exaggerated; 
in fact, pharmacognosy in the modern sense is an impos- 
sibility without a knowledge of microscopical technology 
and of the cellular constitution of plants, or structural 
botany. 

Pharmacy is the science, art and business of preparing, 
compounding and dispensing medicines. Pharmacists con- 
stitute a learned profession because they must study a 
wide scope of sciences or studies in order to qualify them- 
selves for their calliug; pharmacy as a profession is not 
inferior to medicine, and the medieval arrogant conceit of 
a pharmacist being «' ye hande-mayden," or " ye cooke " 
of 4< ye physician" ceased to have sense or meaning cen- 
turies ago. The tendency of modern times is specialization, 
and the pharmacist is a specialist in the medical profession 
in the same sense as the surgeon, the oculist, the gynecolo- 
gist or any other specialist; the specialist is not superior, 
neither is he inferior, to the general practitioner, but they 
all belong to the same profession, with equal honors, each 
working in his particular sphere, doing his special work for 
the amelioration and cure of pain and sickness. 

Pharmacy is an art because theoretical knowledge alone 



10 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

will not make a man a good pharmacist but he must have 
acquired the necessary manipulative skill in laboratory work 
and in dispensing. We have therefore a branch of theoreti- 
cal pharmacy or of the Principles of Pharmacy, and another 
of Practical Pharmacy or Pharmaceutical Laboratory Work, 
Pharmacy in its dealings with the public is a business, sub- 
ject to the commercial laws that govern and control bus- 
iness in all other directions. Business tact and talent are 
therefore as necessary as theoretical and practical profes- 
sional training, to insure success. 

Pharmaco- Dynamics treats of the actions or effects of 
remedies, of the power or force or influence of all remedial 
measures. General pharmaco -dynamics treats of the actio-] 
of groups of medicines, as for instance of cathartics, anti- 
periodics, tonics, etc., while special pharmacodynamics 
treats of the actions of individual medicines, and enables 
us to choose the particular one remedy or combination of 
remedies that seems to be most appropriate in any given 
case. Pharmaco-dynamics investigates the action of rem- 
edies on the healthy as well as on the sick body, so that the 
action of a remedy may be understood in ail possible 
bearings. 

The application of all the knowledge of the physician for 
the purpose of giving relief or of curing disease in the case 
of the individual patient is Therapeutics, a branch of phar- 
maco-dynamics that treats of the use of remedies iu the 
concrete individual cases that a physician is called to attend. 
Therapeutics is the culmination, the end and aim of all 
medical studies, and in the widest and fullest sense such 
studies as Surgery, Obstetrics, Gynecology, or the use of 
medicines, baths, electricity, etc., are merely specialized 
branches of Therapeutics, of the Art of Curing or Healing. 

The pharmacist, then, must thoroughly study Chemistry, 
(theoretical and practical), Botany (structural and micro- 
scopical), Microscopy, Pharmacy and Pharmacognosy, and 
moderately thoroughly also Pharmacodynamics, includ- 
ing Posoiogy, or the doses of medicines, and in addition he 
should acquire rather more than a mere superficial knowl- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 11 

edge of Anatomy, Physiology and Pathology; in other words, 
the educated, thoroughly qualified pharmacist must be a 
learned professional man. 

Classifications. 

In the prosecution of any study it is absolutely necessary 
to adopt some system. A haphazard random memorizing of 
isolated facts is of little value because the facts are not utiliz- 
able unless their relation to each other is fully understood. 

Therefore, in order to study drugs and medicines we must 
adopt some method of classification. We may adopt any of 
the following methods, or in fact, adopt several for different 
purposes : — 
Alphabetical. 

Rotanirnl i ^ atnra l orders alphabetically arranged. 

Duictmtai. j Natural orders according to natural system. 

Zoological. 

Chemical. 

Physiological. 

Therapeutical. 

Physiological and Therapeutical Combined. 

Physical Characteristics. 

The Alphabetical Classification is best adapted for works 
of reference and is used in the Pharmacopoeia and in the 
various commentaries, as in the Companion and the Dis- 
pensatories. The system has no scientific merit, but is the 
best and only one adapted for convenience and rapidity of 
reference. 

Botanical Classifications are of interest because they 
group drugs according to their family affinities, all the drugs 
derived from any one class of plants being enumerated 
together. While this system has some value in an abstract 
scientific sense it is of little or no practical value to the 
pharmacist or physician, as botanical affinities do not argue 
therapeutical affinities or pharmaceutical similarities. For 
instance : the Eubiacece furnish both cinchona and ipecac ; 
the Leguminosce yield a heterogeneous jumble of drugs dis- 
similar in physical nature as well as in medicinal activities, 
as gum arabic, sonua, catechu, balsam of tolu, logwood, 
Calabar bean, cassia fistula, red saunders, licorice root, 



12 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

broom, tamarind and balsam of peru, representing the* thera- 
peutical groups of lenitives, laxatives, astringents, cathar- 
tics, blenorrhetics, narcotics, and coloring agents, and the 
physical groups of gums, extracts, balsams, fruits, roots, 
wood, leaves and flowering tops; from the Umbelliferce we 
derive anise, asafoetida, and conium, etc. 

This whole subject is of such subordinate value to the 
pharmacist, that students are advised not to devote much 
time to trying to memorize the classes of plants from which 
the various drugs are derived, if this must be done at the 
expense of practical and more important subjects of study. 

The Pharmacographia classifies the natural orders of 
plants according to a " natural system," while in some 
works on drugs based on botanical classification the orders 
of plants are arranged alphabetically. 

If the animal drugs were of more importance, we might 
be justified in adding a Zoological Classification; to the extent 
that these drugs are spoken of such a classification is in 
use, but it is of course of very inferior importance and of 
limited applicability. 

Chemical Classifications, more or less comprehensive, are 
used for special purposes, as for instance in pharmacy when 
the drugs are arranged in groups according to their con- 
stituents, with reference to the menstrua that are needed to 
exhaust them in making tinctures, fluid extracts, etc. 

Physiological Classifications are based on the actions of 
medicines as determined by experiments on lower animals 
or on healthy human beings. While the action as thus de- 
termined is not always the same as, or even similar to the 
action of the same drug when administered to a sick per- 
son, the facts found by physiological researches and exper- 
iments explain the manner of the action of medicines and 
suggest the rational and more scientific use of the remedies. 

Therapeutical Classifications are based on the actions of 
medicines in disease. The knowledge of the action of rem- 
edies has been obtained in the past, largely by accident or 
empiricism, and many absurdities were believed until modern 
systematic physiological research placed the study of thera- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 13 

peutics on a more rational basis. Still, even now, the mode 
of action of many remedies and the valuable results obtained 
by the administration of these medicines to the sick, are but 
imperfectly or not at all understood, and the administration 
of these drugs and their preparations continues to be based on 
the accumulated empirical experiences of the past and present. 

But while a therapeutical classification is not as strictly 
scientific as some of the others, it is of great value to the 
physician, and is very valuable for the purpose of the ther- 
apeutist, and some therapeutical system of classification of 
medicines should be studied by every pharmacist as well. 
There are very many different systems of this kind, almost 
every author on therapeutics having modified previous sys- 
tems to suit his own theories. 

Perhaps the most valuable system of classification for the 
physician is one based on the Combined Physiological and 
Therapeutical consideration of medicines. In other words, a 
careful study of the empirical knowledge and experience of 
the ages by the light of modern scientific methods, gives us 
the best and most practical systems of classification of 
medicines for clinical use. 

A system of this kind, practically based on Headland's 
work on the action of drugs, is presented for study a little 
farther on. 

We have learned that Pharmacognosy is the knowledge of 
drugs and that it teaches us how to identify drugs and how 
to determine their quality. The systems of classifications 
already mentioned are of little or no assistance for this pur- 
pose and another method must be adopted. 

Physical Characteristics are made the basis of a system of 
classification whose introduction raised Pharmacognosy to 
be a methodical and accurate science. When we see a drug 
that is not known to us, we examine it carefully to find what 
it is; ^suppose it is a root this determination at once elimi- 
nates from the consideration of what it possibly can be all 
the drugs that are not roots and narrows us to a choice 
among a comparatively small number of drugs. This is 
what the physician would call " diagnosis by exclusion." 

We make a transverse section of the drug and examine 



14 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

the smooth cut surface with a lens, or we may make a micro- 
scopical section and examine that, to determine whether it 
is a mono-cotyledonous or di-cotyledonous root. If it is 
one of the latter, we determine next whether it is a fleshy or 
woody root, and if the latter, whether it has a thick or thin 
bark; if it is either a woody root with a thick bark, or a 
fleshy root, we look for oil, resin or latex ducts, because we 
subdivide into groups with or without such ducts. Now we 
have probably reduced the number of drugs which the one 
under examination can be to a half dozen or less, and we can 
soon determine which one of this small number it really is. 
Or if we find the drug to be a leaf or flower, a bark or wood, 
or anything else, we proceed in a similar manner to narrow 
the choice to a very few names, from which it is easy to 
select the correct one. 

This is what is meant by a system of Pharmacognosy based 
on physical characteristics. 

Therapeutical Classification. 

Innumerable systems of therapeutical classification have 
been proposed ; it is impossible to devise a system of any 
kind of classification which shall be open to no objection; 
we see a weak place in one system and we attempt to better 
it only to find that it necessitates changes elsewhere that 
are more objectionable than the faults we attempted to cor- 
rect. The best system, therefore, remains a compromise, 
and it differs from other systems mainly because one author 
places more stress on one feature of the subject, another 
author more on some other feature. 

The following therapeutical system of classifications is 
given merely for the purpose of giving a general idea of the 
subject, and not because it is better than dozens of others, any 
one of which might have been used as well as an illustration : — 

CLASS I. HAEMATICS OR BLOOD REMEDIES. 

DIVISION I. RESTORATIVES. 

Order 1. Aliments or Foods. 
•• 2. Acids. 
" 3. Alkalies. 
" 4. Tonics. 
" 5. Chalybeates (Iron). 
" 6. Solvents. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 15 

DIVISION II. CATALYTICS, OE ALTERATIVES 

Order 1. Antiphlogistics. 

" 2. Antisyphilitics. 

" 3. Antiscrofulosa. 

" 4. Antiarthritics. 

" 5. Antiscorbutics. 

" 6. Antiperiodics. 

" 7. Anticonvulsives. 

" 8. Antisquamosa. 

CLASS II. NEUROTICS OR NERVE REMEDIES. 
DIVISION I. STIMULANTS. 

Order 1. General Stimulants. 
" 2. Specific Stimulants. 

DIVISION II. NARCOTICS. 

Order 1. Iuebriants. 
" 2. Somniferants. 
" 3. Deliriants. 

DIVISION III. ASTRINGENTS. 

Order 1. Mineral Astringents. 
" 2. Vegetable Astringents. 

CLASS III. ELIMINANTS OR EVACUANTS. 
Order 1. Sialagogues. 
" 2. Expectorants. 
" 3. Emetics. 
" 4. Cathartics. 
" 5. Cholagogues. 
" 6. Diaphoretics. 
" 7. Diuretics. 

CLASS IV. TOPICAL OR LOCAL REMEDIES. 

It is outside of the purpose of these notes to go into any 
farther detail in regard to this subject. The meaning of the 
words, as far as they are not self-explanatory, can be learned 
from any medical dictionary, or the student may study these 
and other therapeutical terms in the list of therapeutical 
terms on page 685 of this book. 

Classification According to Physical Characteristics. 

This method of classification deals only with drugs, which 
are the organic substances used in medicine and the arts in 
the crude form in which they are brought into trade. They 
are grouped according to their derivation from animals or 



16 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



plants, and secondarily according to whether they show 
organic or cell structure or not. 



j Animal. 
Drugs. { 



Vegetable. 



j Showing cell -structure. 
I Showing no cell structure. 
{ Showing cell-structure. 
} Showing no cell -structure. 



Showing cell- structure. 



Animal Drugs. 

s. $ Mature - J Injects.' 
(Immature; Eggs. 
I Parts of j Soluble in alcohol or water. 
L animals, f Insoluble in alcohol or water. 
t Solid. 
Showing no cell -structure. < Semi-solid. 
(Liquid. 

Vegetable Drugs. 

f Whole plants or flowering tops, suffici- 
ently complete for botanical determination. 

Cryptogams.* 
Roots. 
Rhizomes. 
Tubers or Corms. 
Bulbs. 

Twigs or Branches. 
Piths. 
Woods. 
Barks. 
Leafbuds. 
Leaves. 
Flowers. 
Fruits. 
Seeds. 

Parts of plants not easily 
recognizable. 
Showing definite granules under micro- 
scope. 



Showing cell- structure^ 



Parts of Plants. 



Showing no cell-structure. < 



Amorphous.! < 



"Acids. 
Juices. 
Extracts. 
Sugars. 
Gums. 
Gum -resins. 
Resins. 
Oleo -resins. 
Balsams. 
Volatile oils. 
Fixed oils. 
Peculiar concrete 

stances. 
Coloring matters. 



sub- 



* The Cryptogams, many of which are really whole plants, are 
placed here on account of the difficulty of classifying them botani- 
cally. 

f A few of these amorphous substances contain mechanically incor- 
porated debris of cellular elements. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 17 

The cellular vegetable drugs are grouped as follows : — 

Whole Plants or Flowering Tops. 

f c Algae. 

I Thallogens < Lichens. 

Cryptogams ] Lyclpodiace*. 

| Acrogens. < Equisetacece. 
[ ( Ferns. 

f Mono-cotyledonous. 
Roots <! f Woody with thin bark. 

' I Di-cotyledonous 1 Wo °^ with thick bark | wltnoliTaucts.. 

i t3m«„w , with ducts.* 
^Fleshy witDOUt auct8 .* 



Rhizomes ■[ 



f c Mono-cotyledonous. 

' wit 
without ducts.* 



| With rootlets. j Di . cotyle donous ) w 



fCryptogamous. 



( Without rootlets-! Mono-cotyledonous j 8 e h ° ?^ 



pact. 
'Di-cotyledonous j ^f compact. 



Tubers or Corms. 



i Whole. 
• Sliced. 



Bulbs 



! Whole. 
> Sliced. 



( Leafy. 
Scaly. 
Naked. 



Twigs or Branches. < Scaly. 

Piths. 

Woods. 



White. 
Colored. 



f f Bast with isolated bast-cells. 

I Bast radially striated. 
p , I Whole. { Bast tangentially striated. 
" dr,t8 } I Bast quadratically striated. 

(.Bast without striation. 
t Rasped. 



Leaf -buds 

Leav 



rCorikceousS|3^ OQnd . 
S -|He rb aceous|^ m P- und . 



Flowers. 



r Racemose or cymose. 
Whole Inflorescences ] Compound flower- j Tnopened. 
( heads. j Expanded, 

''whole i Unopened. 
Single nower Si ' Wh ° le * Ex P and ^ 

| Parts of flowers jCorolUs. 



* Oil, resin or latex ducts. 



18 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

f i Spurious. 

Fresh ] Fleshy. 

( Stone Fruits. 

Fruits. <! f?^ ri0US - 

J Dried or Prepared ^f/^ 

t Stone fruits. 
L Parts of Fruits. 

( Whole. 
Seeds. < Cotyledons only. 

( Arilli, or seed-coats. 

f Whole. 
Parts of Plants not easily J Cut, or otherwise altered. 
recognizable as such. J Trichomes. 

^ Excrescences. 

We find that this gives us the following groups, numbered 
consecutively: — 

.1., Worms. 

2. Insects. 

3. Eggs. Immature forms of animals. 

4. Parts of animals wholly or partly soluble in alcohol or 
water. 

5. Parts of animals not soluble in alcohol or water. 

6. Solid non-cellular animal substances. 

7. Semi-solid amorphous animal substances. 

8. Liquid amorphous animal substances. 

9. Plants or flowering tops, sufficiently complete for 
botanical determination. 

10. Algae. 

11. Lichens. 

12. Fungi. 

13. Lycopodiaceae. 

14. Equisetacese. 

15. Ferns. 

16. Mono-cotyledonous roots. 

17. Woody di-cotyledonous roots with thin bark. 

18. Woody di-cotyledonous roots with thick bark and with 
oil, resin or latex ducts. 

19. Woody di-cotyledonous roots with thick bark, but 
without oil, resin or latex ducts. 

20. Fleshy roots with oil, resin or latex ducts. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 19 

21. Fleshy roots without oil, resin or latex ducts. 

22. Mono-cotyledonous rhizomes with rootlets. 

23. Dicotyledonous rhizomes with rootlets and with oil, 
resin or latex ducts. 

24. Di-cotyledonous rhizomes with rootlets but without 
oil, resin or latex ducts. 

25. Cryptogamous rhizomes without rootlets. 

26. Mono-cotyledonous rhizomes without rootlets, long 
as compared with the diameter. 

27. Mono-cotyledonous rhizomes without rootlets, short 
and compact. 

28. Di-cotyledonous rhizomes without rootlets, long as 
compared with the diameter. 

29. Di-cotyledonous rhizomes without rootlets, short and 
compact. 

30. Whole tubers or corms. 

31. Sliced tubers or corms. 

32. Whole bulbs. 

33. Sliced bulbs. 

34. Twigs with leaves attached. 

35. Scaly twigs. 

36. Naked twigs. 

37. Piths. 

38. White woods. 

39. Colored woods. 

40. Barks which show isolated bast-cells on transverse 
section. 

4-1. Barks with the bast radially striated. 

42. Barks with the bast tangentially striated. 

43. Barks with the bast quadratically striated. 

44. Barks with no striation of bast. 

45. Rasped bark, so that sections cannot be made. 

46. Leafbuds. 

47. Simple coriaceous leaves. 

48. Compound coriaceous leaves. 

49. Simple herbaceous leaves. 

50. Compound herbaceous leaves. 

51. Racemose or cymose inflorescences. 



20 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

52. Unopened compound flower-heads. 

53. Expanded compound flower-heads. 

54. Unopened single flowers, 

55. Opened single flowers. 

56. Corollas. 

57. Stigmas. 

58. Spurious fruits, fresh. 

59. Fleshy fruits, fresh. 

60. Stone-fruits, fresh, 

61. Dried or prepared spurious fruits. 

62. Dry fruits. 

63. Dried or prepared fleshy fruits. 

64. Dried or prepared stone-fruits. 

65. Parts of fruits. 

66. Whole seeds. 

67. Cotyledons only. 

68. Seed-coats or Arilli. 

69. Whole vegetable substances, in which the plant -part 
is not always easily determined. 

70. Cut or otherwise altered plant substances in which 
the plant-part is not always easily determined. 

71. Trichomes, or epidermal outgrowths. 

72. Excrescences or morbid outgrowths. 

73. Granular substances which show no cell-structure, but 
show regular and definite structure under the microscope. 

74. Acids. 

75. Juices. 

76. Extracts. 

77. Sugars. 

78. Gums. 

79. Gum-resins. 

80. Resins. 

81. Oleo-resins. 

82. Balsams. 

83. Volatile oils. 

84. Fixed oils. 

85. Peculiar concrete substances. 

86. Coloring matters. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 21 



METHOD OF STUDY. 

la studying the individual drugs we do not limit ourselves 
to a consideration of pharmacognosy alone but study several 
other things about them. By adopting a method we will be 
less apt to overlook or forget facts of importance, and a 
plan similar to the following is usually adopted: — 

Name, 
Origin. 
Habitat. 
Description. 

Shape. 

Size. 

Color. 

Fracture. 

Structure ; 

Coarse; 
Microscopical. 

Odor. 

Taste. 
Constituents. 
Uses; 

Action ; 

Dose. 

Name (n.). — First the pharmacopoeial or pharmaceutical 
title; then the scientific English name; next common English 
names, or synonyms. 

Origin (o.). — Nature and source of the drug; part of 
animal or plant used followed by name and natural order of 
plant or animal. 

Habitat (h.). — The country or home where the animal or 
plant is found. A knowledge of the habitat is of commercial 
importance, because it enables the buyer to judge of the 
best time to buy; when new crops may be expected; the 
prospects of growing crops; influences like drought, war, 
tariff legislation, epidemics, etc., that may interfere with 
the gathering of crops or that may affect the prices, etc. 
Also, to some extent at least, there is more variation in the 
appearance of drugs that are gathered in civilized lands than 
in those from less civilized people who adhere more blindly 



22 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

to custom; for instance", calumba from Mozambique is 
invariably in transverse slices, while veratrum viride from 
North Carolina may be whole, in transverse slices, longitu- 
dinal halves or longitudinal quarters, with rootlets or with- 
out rootlets. 

Description (d.). — This is pharmacognosy proper, and 
when we examine an unknown drug in order to determine its 
identity, this is all we can study about the drug until we 
have fixed its identity. A knowledge of the physical 
characters of a drug enables us also to judge of its quality. 
We consider these characteristics in the following order : — 

Shape, size and color are self-explanatory words; we 
must note both external and internal color. 

Fracture refers to the characteristics that are observed 
on breaking a piece of the drug. The following kinds of 
fracture are the more important ones: — 

Waxy. — A peculiar granular appearance of the broken 
surface, as seen on breaking a piece of yellow bees-wax. 

Resinous. — Smooth, glossy surfaces, as seen on breaking 
a piece of rosin. 

Conchoidal. — Usually smooth and shining like the resin- 
ous fracture, but the surfaces are peculiarly curved, one 
surface being concave like the inside of a clam-shell, while 
the other is correspondingly convex. Observed in aloes, 
extract of licorice, etc. Conchoidal depressions are also 
observed in the external bark of some drugs. 

Brittle. — The substance readily breaks into fragments, as 
in kino or catechu. 

The foregoing fractures are observed in the amorphous 
drugs, or drugs without cell-structure, while the following 
occur in vegetable drugs with cell -structure. 

Abrupt or Smooth. — Breaking with a smooth surface, 
abruptly across the drug, as in curcuma, dandelion, podo- 
phyllum, etc. This fracture is due to a preponderance of 
parenchyma tissue, with little or no prosenchyma, or with 
only soft-walled prosenchyma. 

Mealy. — Like the last, with the additional feature that 
the surface appears to be covered with a fine powder, 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 23 

(starch); seen in " mealy sarsaparillas," Florentine orris, 
etc. 

Tough. — Breaking with difficulty, or even not breaking at 
all, except after much twisting and tearing, although read- 
ily bending; as in mezereon, cotton root bark, simaruba, 
etc. 

Spongy or corky . — A characteristic of vegetable drugs 
which have large intercellular spaces in the fresh state, as 
in calamus, blue flag, etc. There is a peculiar feeling as ii 
the side towards which the piece is being bent is compressed 
while the other side stretches before the break occurs, which 
latter, however, is usually abrupt, the feeling of elasticity 
referred to being the feature that gives the name to this 
kind of fracture. 

Splintery. — The piece of drug breaks into two large 
pieces 01 being broken, but a number of small pieces or 
" splinters'' are usually also produced, which fall away. 
The fracture therefore approaches the brittle fracture of 
anorphous substances. Apt to occur in cinchona and other 
barks. 

Fibrous. — The brokeu ends have a jagged or rough 
r.ppearance from projecting fibers; fibrovascular bundles or 
wood-cells in whole rhizomes or roots, etc. ; bundles of 
bast-cells in cinchona, etc. The fibrous fracture is a char- 
acteristic of a preponderance of hard-walled prosenchyma 
tissue. 

Hazel-switch. — The drug breaks partly through, then 
splits up and down along the length of the piece, while the 
remaining unbroken part bends. Seen in gillenia, etc. 

These fractures throw much light on the 

Structure, which, however, is to be ascertained more 
fully by making sections and examining with a lens or mici o- 
scope. Usually one examination of the transverse section 
suffices, but if the student wishes to become qualified to 
examine powdered drugs, he must familiarize himself with 
all the cellular elements in the drug. A sample of powdered 
drug, known to be pure, should also be examined, and, if 
possible, permanently mounted for future reference. 



24 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Odor and Taste are organoleptic properties which cannot 
be described in words, except by reference to similar odors 
or tastes presumably familiar to the reader. We say a drug 
has a sweet, bitter, aromatic, acrid, mucilaginous or other 
taste, or that it has a camphoraceous, terebinthinate or 
other odor, and the words convey an idea because we have 
experienced such tastes and smells; but there are many 
tastes and odors which we cannot describe in words and to 
which we can only refer as il peculiar," as in anise, fennel, 
peppermint, etc. Such tastes and odors, when once experi- 
enced, are usually characteristic and not readily forgotten 
and often serve as good means of identification of the 
drug. 

Constituents (c). — Under this heading we study the 
chemical constituents of the drug; the dispensatories may 
be consulted for details, but in these notes only the most 
important or active constituents will be mentioned. 

Uses (u.). — The pharmacist must have some knowledge of 
the action of remedies and of the doses, because this enables 
him to prevent accidents in cases of errors in the prescrip- 
tion through ignorance or carelessness of the physician. 

Special remarks will be made when there are subjects like 
adulterations, substitutions, poisonous effects, antidotes, 
etc., to be considered. 

In the lectures the history of some drugs may be referred 
to also, but in these notes all reference to this subject will 
be omitted. 

We will study each drug according to the following 
scheme. 

TITLE. 
N.— ©.— M.— to<— C.— U. 

SPECIAL REMAEKS. 

ANIMAL DRUGS. 

An animal drug may generally be distinguished from a 
vegetable drug by the peculiar empyreumatic odor obtained 
by heating or burning a portion of it, resembling burning 
horn or hoofs. .... . •....,-.- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 25 

Cellular Animal Drugs. 
GROUP I. 

WORMS. 
Hirudo. 

N. Leech. — o. The live aquatic worm Sanguisuga medici- 
nalis and S. officinalis; class Vermes; order Annalidae. — H. 
Found all over the world, but the European leech is the only 
one kept in drug stores. It is now extensively reared in this 
country. — d. Two varieties are generally mentioned, the 
gray leech (S. med.) and the green leech (S. offic), but there 
is no practical reason for making a distinction. Leeches 
vary in length from 5 to 10 centimeters; spindle-shaped, 
flattened above and below; wiih about 100 rings which are 
merely superficial; head-end with 3-rayed serrate-toothed 
jaws, tail end with a circular sucker; color of back blackish 
to grayish-green, with 6 longitudinal ferruginous lines, the 
four outer of which are spotted black. The body of the 
green leech is yellowish-green with lateral longitudinal 
black lines, while in the gray the belly is grayish-black, also 
lined with more or less interrupted black lines. — u. Used 
for local blood-letting; a European leech draws from 15 to 
25 cc. of blood, which quantity may be increased by bathing 
the bite in warm water after the leeches'have dropped off. 

GROUP II. 

INSECTS. 

Without wings ; angular granules Coccus 

With wings greenish or coppery metallic luster. ..Cantharis. 

Wings black with transverse yellow bands Mylabris. 

Wings black with longitudinal yellow bands.. Canth' Tittata. 
Entire insect brownish black Biatta. 

Coccus 

^^ N. Cochineal. — o. The dried female of Coccus 

Up Up Cacti; class Insecta; order Heraiptera. — H. 

Mexico mainly, but also in Central America and 

Westludies/ — 1>. Angular grains, about 5 mm. 

cochineal, long; oval, flit below, convex above, .trans- 




26 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

versely wrinkled ; easily pulverizable ; grayish-white to pur- 
plish-black ; almost odorless ; faint or bitterish taste. In the 
illustration the larger round one shows a grain after having 
been swelled in water. — c. Carminic acid, soluble in water, 
alcohol, water of ammonia, etc. — u. Coloring agent; some- 
times used as an anti-spasmodic in whooping cough, etc. 
Dose: 0.03 to 0.2 gram. 

Cantharis. 

N. Cantharides, Spanish Flies, Blister- 
ing Flies. — O. The whole insect Cantharis 
vesicatoria; class Insecta; order Cole- 
optera. — H. Southern Europe. — D. Quite 
uniform in size, about 25 mm. long and 
6 mm. wide; cylindrical, slightly flattened 
above and below; when wing cases are cantharis. 
closed all external parts are of greenish metallic luster, the 
Russian variety having a coppery tint; large membranous, 
brownish wings under the long, slender, shining wing cases; 
the powder is brownish with fine shining particles, the frag- 
ments of the external structures ; odor disagreeable; taste 
acrid. — C. Cantharidin, soluble in alcohol, ether, chloro- 
form, fats, fatty -oils, etc. — u. Externally as a vesicant; in- 
ternally, stimulant and diuretic. Dose: Tincture, 0.2 to 
0,5 cc, largely diluted. 

Cantharis Vittata. 
N. Potato bug. — O. The entire insect Cantharis Vittata; 
class Insecta; order Coleoptera. — H. United States. — d. 
Shape and size similar to those of Spanish flies; the insect is 
black with two longitudinal yellow stripes on each wingcase, 
one along the middle and one along 
the inner margin. Is not found 
in the trade but is a powerful vesi- 
cating agent. — c. and U. like those 
of Cantharis. 

Mylabris. 

N. Chinese Blistering Flies. — o. 
mylabris. The entire insect Mylabris Cichorii; 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 27 

class Insecta; order Coleoptera. — H. Indigenous in Eastern 
and Southern Asia, but brought into trade from China. — 
D. Long, cylindrical body, rounded over back, flat below; 
variable in size, from 15 to 30 mm. long; the black wing 
cases marked with a spot at their insertion to the thorax, 
and two broad bands, spot and bands of a yellowish-brown 
color. Odor, taste, C. and u. as of cantharis. 

In several lots of Chinese blistering flies I have found a 
large proportion of a short thick beetle figured beside the 
Mylabris insect; this insect has a metallic luster and if 
powdered with the Mylabris would give the powder of the 
latter the appearance of the powder of true Cantharides. 
It is an adulteration. 

Blatta. 

N. Cockroach. — o. The whole insect 
Blatta orientalis; class Insecta) order 
Orthoptera. — H. Everywhere in houses, 
about sinks, etc. — D. Too familiar 
to need much description. Flattish, 
about 25 to 40 mm. long; rudimentary 
wing cases and wings, nearly reaching j 
the tail end in the male but quite 
short in the female; brownish-black; 
nauseating odor and taste.— C. Active 
principle not isolated. — u. Internally cockroach. 

as a diuretic. Dose: 0.3 to 0.5 gram. 

A recently introduced article of commerce is Flies, dried,- 
and sold as food for birds. 

GROUP 11/ 

EGGS. 

N. Egg, chicken egg — o. Egg of Gallus Bankira, var. 
domestica; class Aves; order Gallinae. — H. Domesticated 
everywhere.- - D. Too familiar to need description In the 
pharmacopoeia only the yolk is official under the titl*» 
"Vitellus." — c. The white of the egg consists of about 
85% water, 12% albumen, 2.7% mucus and some saline sub- 
stances: the yolk is more complex, about 50% water, 




28 NOTE J ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

vitellin about 16%, palmitin, stearin and olein, about 20%, 
etc. — U. Nutritive. In pharmacy the yolk is u^ed in making 
emulsions; the albumen for clarifying liquids. 

The eggs of other domestic fowls, as of ducks or geese, 
have a more pronounced flavor than those of chickens, but 
they may be used instead, if necessary. 

GROUP IV. 

PARTS OF ANIMALS WHOLLY OR PARTLY SOLUBLE IN 
ALCOHOL OR WATER. 

Rolls or flat pieces of tough fibrous structure., ichthyocoiia. 

Long, thin, membranous ribbons American isinglass. 

Round sacs, hairy on one side, smooth on the other, Moscnus. 
Long grayish-brown sacs Castoreum. 

Ichthyocoiia 

N. Isinglass; Russian Isinglass; Fishglue. — o. The dried 
swimming bladders or sounds of the sturgeon, Acipenser 
Huso, and other varieties of Acipenser; class Pisces; order 
Sturiones. — H. Rivers of Russia. — D. In flat sheets, "more 
rarely in rolls; tough, horny appearance, with a grayish 
pearly or sometimes iridescent luster; whitish or yellow- 
ish; translucent; no odor; insipid taste. — c. Almost pure 
gelatin, nearly completely soluble in boiling water or boii 
ing diluted alcohol. Dissolved in twenty-four times its 
weight of boiling water it forms a jelly on cooling. — u. 
Jelly of isinglass is used as a nutriment; in pharmacy it is 
also used for clarifying liquids and for making court-plaster. 

Book or Leaf isinglass is Russian isinglass in single 
sheets, or each sheet folded once. 

staple isinglass is Russian isinglass rolled. 

Scrap isinglass is the trimmings and small pieces of Rus- 
sian isinglass. 

Cake isinglass is made by dissolving the scraps of Russian 
isinglass and drying the jelly in cakes. 

Shred isinglass is made by cutting Russian isinglass into 
very find shreds; used by gilders and glass sign paiuters. 
Should not be confounded with shred gelatin which looks 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



29 



similar, but the shreds of which are less tough and more 
transparent. 

American Isinglass 
is said by some to be the dried intestines of the cod and of 
other fishes ; others say it is the swimming bladders or sounds 
of hake, roiled between cylinders under great pressure until 
quite thin, when it is cut into bauds. It is in long thin 
membranous bands of a tough fibrous structure; nearly 
transparent; of pale yellowish color; fishy odor; insipid 
taste. Inferior to Russian isinglass mainly on account of its 
disagreeable odor. 

Pipe or Purse isinglass is an inferior isinglass made by 
drying the whole sounds of fishes, without splitting them 
open. 

Gelatin in various forms is also sold under the name of 
"isinglass," but should not be confounded with isinglass. 

Mica in sheets, as used in stoves, lamp chimneys, etc., is 
commonly but erroneously called "isinglass " by the public. 



Moschus. 
N. Musk. — O. The 
dried secretion from the 
preputial follicles of 
Mo schu s moschiferus ; 
class Mammalia; order 
Ruminantia. The gland 
containing musk is sit- 
uated between the navel 
and prepuce of the 
'male, immediately un- 
der the skin, opening by 
a small hairy orifice a 
little in front of the 
prepuce. — H. Central Asia. — D. Musk comes in sacs about 
50 to 60 mm. long; the convex side is covered with an ad- 
herent portion of the skin with short, stiff, brownish-yellow 
or grayish hairs that point to a center at the orifice of the 
gland; the flat side is membranous, flat and without hairs. 




MUSK. 



30 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Each sac contains from 5 to 8 grams of a peculiar 
unctuous substance, which constitutes the Moschus of the 
Pharmacopoeia. — C. Its composition is very complex, none 
of its constituents, however, being in the nature of an 
" active principle." Its solubility is variable, from 50 
to 90 per cent being soluble in water and from 10 to 60 
per cent in alcohol. — U. Stimulant and antispasmodic; 
also in perfumery. Dose : 0.5 gram or more. 

There are two varieties ; the Chinese smaller and round 
sacs being the better; the Russian is in pearshaped sacs and 
has a more offensive odor. 

Even in the sacs musk is often adulterated by the intro- 
duction of shot or small pieces of lead or gravel; or the 
sacs are opened and the musk replaced by a mixture of 
powdered meat, dried blood, musk, etc., the opening being 
closed again by sewing or glueing. Even entirely artificial 
sacs have been made from portions of skin and scrotum of 
the animal and filled with such spurious mixtures. Care 
will demonstrate the genuineness and integrity of the 
11 musk pods," and musk should not be bought except in 
genuine and intact sacs, or from reliable dealers. 

See also Moschus, under Group VI. 

Castoreum. 

N. Castoreum; Castor. — o. The preputial glands of 
the beaver, Castor fiber, with their contents; class Mam- 
malia; order Bodentia. — H. Northern parts of both hem- 
ispheres. — D. In both male and female beavers there are 
two sacs or glands on each side between the anus and ex- 
ternal genitals; the two glands of each pair empty their 
contents through a common duct, but they are usually 
unequal in size. In commerce they are usually united in 
pairs, dark-brown, wrinkled, tough, and when broken have 
a fatty resinous appearance. Odor peculiar, nauseating and 
strong, and taste bitter and pungent. — c. Volatile oil and 
resin; not soluble in water, but alcohol dissolves over 50 
per cent. — u. Stimulant, antispasmodic and antihysteric. 
Dose: 0.5 gram or more. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



31 



There are two 
varieties ; the Rus- 
sian is in larger 
sacs and richer in 
resin and is es- 
teemed more highly 
than the American 
which is less odor- 
ous, glossier and 
darker colored. 

They may be dis- 
tinguished from 
each other by vari- 
ous properties. 
Russian castoreum 
frequently is in 
single, round 
or pearshaped 
glands, tapering 
towards the duct.; 
dark brown or al- 
most black on the 
outside and light- 
brown within ; on 
fracture it shows 
a dull surface, 
never a resinous 
fracture. The two 
external mem- 
branes can be 
peeled off easily, one after the other, except in old and hard 
specimens. The sacs vary in weight from 50 to 250 grams. 
American castoreum sacs occur more frequently in pairs. 
The sacs are smaller, elongated, deeply wrinkled ; 30 to 125 
grams in weight; break with a resinous fracture; the color 
is lighter; the membranes adhere closely to the contents and 
cannot be peeled off. The illustration shows the shape of 
American castoreum. 




CASTOREUM. 



32 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

GROUP V. 

PARTS OF ANIMALS NOT SOLUBLE IN ALCOHOL OR WATER. 

Anastomosing fibers ,. Spongia. 

Flattish, oval, white " bones." .... ... Os Sepiae. 

Spongia. 

N, Sponge. — o. The fibrous skeleton of Spongia officinalis; 
Class Spongioe; order Ceratosa; family Spongidce. — H, 
The marketed varieties are from the Mediterranean Sea and 
from the Bahama Islands and the northern coast of Cuba, 
but they grow all over the tropical and subtropical parts of 
the world. -^-D. A net work of elastic horny fibers, closely 
interwoven to form light, porous, flexible masses of various 
sizes and shapes; yellowish-brown to dark-brown color; 
peculiar faint odor and no taste. — c. Traces of iodine, 
bromine, phosphorus, etc, have been detected in sponges. — 
U. Sponge is used mainly for mechanical purposes, for 
cleansing and washing; or in the form of spougetents for 
dilating sinuses, the neck of the womb, etc. " Sponge- 
grafting,'' consists in introducing carefully cleansed and 
sterilized sponge into a deep wouud which must heal up by 
granulations, and has been practiced in cases in which the 
granulations appeared weak and flabby with a tendency to 
break down. The meshes of the sponge afford support to 
the forming granulations, the substance of the sponge being 
later on absorbed in the same manner in which carbolized 
catgut ligatures are absorbed. " Burnt sponge," or char- 
coal made from sponge, was formerly used for the same 
purposes for which iodine and its preparations are now 
used. 

There are several varieties of sponges. The best are the 
Turkey or Levant sponges (from Euspongia officinalis) 
which are soft, velvety, and usually cup-shaped. 

Bahama sponges or u horse sponges " (from Hippospongia 
equina), are coarser, although the best varieties, " lamb's 
wool" and " velvet," are but little inferior to the Turkey 
sponges. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



33 



Sand, gravel and calcareous con- 
cretions, corals, shells, etc., must be 
removed from sponges by beating, 
washing, or macerating in very dilute 
hydrochloric acid (1:30). Bleached 
sponges are usually injured by the 
bleaching agents employed, such as 
chlorinated soda', chlorinated lime, 
chlorine water or sulphurous acid. 

Os Sepiae. 

n. Cuttle-fish Bone. — o. A calcare- 
ous body situated under the skin and 
constituting the internal skeleton of 
Sepia officinalis; Mollasca; class Ce- 
phalopoda; order Dibranchiatae. — H. 
Found washed up on the shores of 
the Mediterranean Sea. — D. Oblong- 
ovate pieces, 10 to 20 cm. long; 2.5 to 
7.5 cm. broad. Convex on both sides, 
hard on the upper side, soft and fri- 
able below; light and porous. White. 
Odor resembling sea weeds; no taste. 
On section the friable portion is seen 
to be made up of numerous layers of plates curved in the op- 
posite directiun to the hard upper plate and united to each 
other by minute spicules or pillars. — C. Mainly carbonate 
of lime. — u. Formerly as an antacid; now mainly as an 
ingredient of dentifrices, and to put in birdcages for birds 
to whet their bills upon. 

Various parts of other animals are sometimes mentioned 
as drugs. 
Bone or Os. The solid bones of various domestic animals. 
Burnt Bone, or Os Usta. Bone burnt in an open fire ; in 
porous, fragile, white pieces retaining the shapes of the 
bones. Consists mainly of phosphate and carbonate of lime. 
Used to make phosphorus, phosphoric acid, and solution of 
phosphates. 




CUTTLE-BONE. 



34 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Bone Black or Carbo Animaiis. Animal charcoal is made 
by heating bones in closed retorts. Usually found in the 
trade as powdered animal charcoal. (See group VI.) 

Oyster shells, egg shells, crabs' shells and crabs' claws, red 
and white coral, rasped harts' horns, etc., were also formerly 
used as medicines but are now practically obsolete. 

GROUP VI. 

SOLID NON-CELLULAR ANIMAL SUBSTANCES. 

Round, white, calcareous stones L,apim Cancrorum. 

Yellow waxy cakes or lumps Cera flava. 

Thin, round or square cakes, waxy, white. . Cera alba. 

White, semi-transparent, unctuous masses of a 

crystalline, foliaceous texture Cetaceuni. 

Hard, white, somewhat glossy masses... Acidum stearicum. 
White, solid, fatty masses Sevum. 

Black, gritty powder Carbo Animaiis. 

Brown, unctuous, very odorous powder Moscims. 

Cylindrical crystalline masses Saccharum Lactis. 

Irregular, flat, hard, brown, transparent pieces Coiia. 

Irregular, flat, semi-opaque, yellowish- white pieces 

Colla alba. 
Colorless, transparent, rectangular, flexible sheets.. Geiatina. 

Opaque, rectangular sheets of frothy texture Gelatin. 

Clear, colorless, flexible shreds Shred Gelatin. 

Grajish, brownish or blackish odorous masses.. Ambergris. 
Small, hard, tenacious, odorous masses Hyraceum. 

Lapilli Cancrorum. 

N. Calculi Cancrorum, Oculi Cancrorum, Crabstones, 

Crabs' Eyes. — o. Calcareous concretions found in the 

stomach, one on each side, of the European crawfish, 

Astacus fluviatUis; class Crustacea; 

order Decapoda. The crawfish are 

bruised and left in heaps to putrify, 

after which the remains are washed 

crabstones. and the stones picked out. — H. Europe, 

especially European Russia. — r>. Hemispherical hard stones, 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 35 

often with a depression on ODe side, varying from 3 or 4 
to 15 or more millimeters in diameter, or 0.1 to 0.75 gram 
in weight, grayish-white or reddish-white color, hard or 
stony consistence and without odor or taste. — c. They 
consist of calcium carbonate and calcium phosphate 
cemented together with organic matter, in a laminated 
structure; they effervesce with acids, the calcium salts 
being dissolved, leaving the animal substance in the shape 
of the original stones, but soft and flexible. 

Spurious crabstones, nude from chalk or whiting and 
glue, and shaped to resemble the genuioe, will not retain 
their shape when treated with acids. — u. Antacid. The 
putting a crabstone under the eyelid to remove a foreign 
body from the eye is a relic of barbarism and should be dis- 
countenanced. 

Cera Flava. 

N. Beeswax, yellow beeswax, ye' low wax. — o. Prepared 
by the bee, Apis mellifica; class Insecta; order II 'ymenopter 'a. 
The honeycomb, after the honey is obtained, is melted in 
boiling water, in which the impurities either settle or are 
dissolved; the wax, which floats on top of the water, cools 
into a solid cake which is then remelted in fresh boiling 
water, strained, poured into suitable round vessels and 
allowed to cool. The cakes of wax thus formed are the 
beeswax of commerce. — H. Everywhere in temperate and 
tropical lands. — D. In round flat cakes weighing from one to 
five or more kilos or in irregular lumps ; specific gravity from 
0.955 to 0.967 at 15° C. ; yellowish or yellowish-brown, brittle 
when cold, breaking with a peculiar granular or u waxy " 
fracture; becomes plastic on slightly warming it; it has a 
sweet honeylike odor and a faint balsamic taste; it is soluble 
in ether, chloroform, fixed and volatile oils; nearly com- 
pletely soluble in boiling alcohol; sparingly soluble in cold 
alcohol and insoluble in water. — U. Formerly used internally 
as a demulcent. Now used only for ointments, cerates, 
plasters, etc. 

Adulterations. — Insoluble substances, like meal, earth, 



36 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

etc., are detected by melting and straining the wax. If the 
fracture is resinous instead of waxy, resin has probably been 
added and may be dissolved out by cold alcohol, which does 
not affect wax. Fatty substances, like tallow, suet, etc., cause 
wax to break with a smooth, somewhat greasy fracture. 
Paraffin or ceresin (a native paraffin) is detected by treating 
wax with ether, and if this dissolves more than fifty per cent 
paraffin is present; or by heating the suspected acid with 
fuming Nordhausen sulphuric acid which destroys the wax 
and allows the paraffin to float on top unchanged. The 
specific gravity is taken ; additions of rosin, stearin or Japan 
wax make it heavier, while ceresin, paraffin, suet, tallow, 
spermaceti or lard, make it lighter. 

Cera Alba. 

N. White wax. — o. Bleached yellow beeswax. The wax 
is melted and allowed to fall in thin streams on a revolving 
cylinder, which is constantly kept wet. The wax congeals in 
thin ribbon- like strips, which are bleached by exposing to 
air, sunshine and moisture. An inferior method of bleach- 
ing is with chlorine, etc. — d. When sufficiently bleached, 
white wax is melted and formed into thin circular discs of 
about ten centimeters in diameter, or sometimes into small 
square cakes. It is white, shining, translucent in thin layers, 
harder than yellow wax, and without taste or odor. Its 
specific gravity is from 0.965 to 0.975 at 15° C, or somewhat 
higher than that of yellow wax. — U. Same as of yellow wax. 

Adulterations. — Melt a small piece of white wax in boiling 
water ; if white lead or other insoluble matter was added it 
will sink to the bottom ; if starch or flour was added it can 
be detected by testing the water with iodine for dissolved 
starch; or a piece of white wax may be dissolved in oil of 
turpentine or benzin, when the above mentioned substances 
will sink to the bottom. Chloroform dissolves about twenty- 
five per cent of white wax; if white wax is treated with 
eight times its weight of chloroform and more than twenty- * 
five per cent is dissolved, it is impure. Paraffin is detected 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 87 

as in yellow wax. The specific gravity should also be 
ascertained. 

(See Dispensatories for further tests and for descriptions 
of Japan wax, vegetable wax, ceresin, ozokerite, etc.) 

Cetaceum. 

N. Spermaceti. — o. A peculiar, concrete, fatty substance 
obtained from the sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus ; 
class Mammalia; order Cetacea. — D, White, pearly, semi- 
transparent, soft, unctuous masses of a crystalline foliace- 
ous structure ; faint odor and no taste; insoluble in water, 
soluble in ether, chloroform, fixed and volatile oils, etc. 
Specific gravity 0.943. — U. Seldom used internally as a de- 
mulcent. Its main use is in ointments and cerates. 

Acidum Stearicum. 

N. Stearic acid. — o. From various solid fats, especially 
tallow. — D. Hard, white, glossy masses without taste or 
odor. — u. An ingredient of glycerin suppositories ; other- 
wise of no use in pharmacy. 

Sevum. 

N. Suet, mutton suet. — o. The purified internal abdom- 
inal fat of the sheep, Ovis Aries; class Mammalia; order 
Buminantia. It is purified by melting and straining; should 
be kept in well closed, glazed or tin vessels, and should not 
be used after becoming rancid. — r>. Firm, hard, somewhat 
brittle, white, fatty masses, without taste or odor. Specific 
gravity 0.937 to 0.952. — c. Stearin, palmitin and olein. — 
U. Emollient in ointments, etc. 

Beef Suet or Tallow is used for similar purposes; it is 
softer than mutton suet. 

Carbo Animalis. 

N. Bone-black, animal charcoal, — O. Bones of domestic 
animals are subjected to destructive distillation by heating 
to red heat in closed retorts without access of air. The 
residue in the retort is animal charcoal. — d. Dull black 



38 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

gritty powder, or small lumps, without taste or odor. In- 
soluble in alcohol or water. — c. Charcoal together with 
phosphate and carbonate of lime. Animal charcoal can be 
distinguished from vegetable charcoal by incineration, 
when it leaves about eighty-five per cent of ash, while vege- 
table charcoal leaves only two or three per cent of ash. — u. 
For decolorizing solutions of vegetable principles, such as 
alkaloids, etc. 

Purified Animal Charcoal is not a drug but a prepara- 
tion. It is made by removing the earthy salts from animal 
charcoal by dilute hydrochloric acid. 

Moschus. 

N. Musk. — o. It comes into the trade in the sacs, glands, 
or " pods " already described in Group IV. The Pharma- 
copoeia recognizes only the contents of these glands, and 
the retail druggist probably rarely buys musk in pods, but 
buys the official drug which is described as (i the dried 
secretion from the preputial follicles of lloschus moschi- 
ferus." — i). Musk occurs in small, irregular, somewhat 
unctuous, dark reddibh-brown granules, which have a 
bitterish taste and peculiar penetrating and persistent odor. 
Musk is hygroscopic and contains about ten per cent of 
moisture; when completely dried it loses its odor, but 
recovers it on re-absorbing moisture. C. and u. were 
described under " Moschus," Group IV, which see. 

Adulterations. — Musk is frequently adulterated, especially 
in this, its official, form; dried blood, muscular tissue, hair, 
etc., are mixed with genuine musk, and may be detected by 
i he aid of the microscope. 

Saccharum Lactis. 

N. Sugar of Milk. — o. From the milk of the cow, Bos 
Taurus; class Mammalia; order Buminantia. — H. Domes- 
ticated.— r>. The whey left after cheese-making is boiled 
down, when the sugar crystallizes out; this is then redis- 
solved, decolorized and crystallized on strings or sticks. It 
U8ually comes in yellowish -white, hard, cylindrical, crystal- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 39 

line masses, from ten to thirty or more centimeters long, 
three to five centimeters in diameter. The powder is 
gritty, white, inodorous and but faintly sweetish. MLk 
sugar is soluble in six times its weight of water at 
15° C, and in an equal weight of boiling water; not 
soluble in alcohol. — U. Said to be an active diuretic; has 
been recommended as an article of diet in certain diseases; 
but in pharmacy it is mainly used as a diluent in making 
powders, its grittiness and hardness helping to thoroughly 
triturate the active ingredients of the powders. 

Colla. 
N. Glue.— o. An impure form of gelatin obtained by 
boiling various animal substances with water; the solution 
of gelatin so prepared is evaporated until it forms a jelly 
on cooling, when the mass is cut into slices which are dried 
in the air. — d. Glue or Brown Glue comes into the trade in 
irregular, hard, flat pieces; sometimes of a somewhat 
horny consistence. It breaks with an abrupt, often splin- 
tery, fracture; the better grades are brownish or yellowish- 
brown, and transparent; the poorer grades are darker, 
often almost brownish black and opaque. White glue (Colla 
Alba) is in similar pieces, but thinner and often flexible, and 
usually semi-opaque; it is considered an inferior glue for 
gluing wood, etc. — u. In solution as a u size " before paint- 
ing or varnishing paper or other porous substances and for 
gluing wood, etc. It is an ingredient of various cements. 

Gelatina. 

N. Gelatin. — o. Made like glue, but from choicer and 
cleaner materials, tendons, sinews, ligaments, bones, etc., 
free from putrefaction. — r>. The solution is thorough';/ 
clarified, allowed to gelatinize, the mass is cut into sheets 
which are laid on frames covered with knotted nets which 
leave their impress on the dried sheets of gelatin ; the sheets 
are about twenty to twenty-five centimeters long and 7.5 
to 8 centimeters wide, and very thin; they are flexible, 
perfectly transparent, without odor or taste. — u. An ingre- 



40 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

dient in articles of diet. In pharmacy it is used in making 
capsules, glycerin suppositories, for coating pills, etc. 

Shred Gelatin is sheet gelatin cut into very thin shreds 
by means of a cutting machine. It may be distinguished 
from shred isinglass by its transparency and by dissolving 
in water, while shred isinglass merely swells and becomes 
opaque in cold water. 

Another form of gelatin is sometimes met with in the 
trade which appears to be made by beating the hot solution 
into froth, which is then allowed to gelatinize, when it is 
cut into sheets and dried; the sheets are two or three 
mm. thick and of a frothy texture, not flexible and not 
transparent. 

Ambergris is found floating in the sea; it is a morbid 
secretion formed in the intestines of the sperm-whale ; it is 
described as occurring in friable, grayish, brownish or 
blackish masses, sometimes striated or clotted. It has a 
peculiar odor, but no taste. It is only used ia perfumery. 

Hyraceum is supposed to be the dried excrement of 
Hyrax capensis, a South African animal of about the size of 
a rabbit. It is In small, hard, tenaceous masses, resembling 
castoreum in taste and odor. It is practically obsolete, but 
was formerly used as an anti-spasmodic in the dose of 0.5 
to 1 gram. 

Pepsin, Pancreatin, Ingluvin, Fibrin, etc., are preparations 

and not drugs, therefore they are not considered in pharma- 
cognosy. 

GROUP VII. 

SEMI-SOLID AMORPHOUS ANIMAL SUBSTANCES. 

Soft, white, unctuous fatty substance Adeps. 

Soft, yellowish-white fatty substance Adeps Lanae. 

Adeps . 

N. Lard. — o. The prepared internal or abdominal fat 
of the hog (Sus scrofa; class Mammalia; order Pachyder- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 41 

matci), purified by washing with water, melting and strain- 
ing. — H. Domesticated. — D. White, unctuous, fatty sub- 
stance, soft enough to require being kept in containers 
which should be impervious to fats and should be kept well 
closed; odor peculiar but faint, and free from rancidity; 
taste, insipid. Specific gravity, about 0.932 at 15° C. Not 
soluble in water and but very slightly so in alcohol; soluble 
in ether, beozin, chloroform, etc. — u. Mainly as a base 
for ointments, etc. 

Adulterations. Lard is extensively adulterated with 
cottonseed oil-, for the detection of which the official tests 
should be made. It should also be tested for alkalies, starch 
and salt (chlorides), and it should be rejected for pharma- 
ceutical uses if it has become rancid. 

Adeps Lanae Hydrosus, 

N. Hydrous wool-fat, wool-fat. — o. The purified fat of 
the wool of sheep (Ovis Aries; class Mammalia; order 
Buminantid), mixed with not more than thirty per cent of 
water. — H. Domesticated. — d. Yellowish-whiie or nearly 
white, ointment-like substance, having only a faint odor; 
insoluble in water but can be mixed with twice its weight of 
water without losing its ointment-like consistence. Pure 
wool-fat is more tenacious than the hydrous article of the 
Pharmacopoeia.— C. A mixture of ethers of cholesterin 
with the ordinary constituents of fat.— u. It is claimed 
that wool-fat is more readily absorbed by the frkin than 
other fats for which reason it is popular as an ointment base. 
It is also employed for softening the skin and rendering 
it smooth, as in cosmetic preparations for removing wrinkles 
from the face and neck, or for improving the form and in- 
creasing the plumpness of women's bosoms, etc. 

Civet is a semi-solid, unctuous, yellowish or brownish 
substance obtained from a pouch situated between the ex- 
ternal genitals and the anus of the Civet cat of Africa, or of 
East India. It is obtained from animals confined for the 
purpose. It is often put up in horns. It possesses an odor 



42 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

resembling that of musk and is used in perfumery for sim- 
ilar purposes as musk, but is obsolete as a remedy. 

Butter is sometimes enumerated among animal drugs. 



GROUP VIII. 

LIQUID AMORPHOUS ANIMAL SUBSTANCES. 

Syrupy, sweet, aromatic, sometimes granular liquid.... Mel- 
Viscid, greenish-brown liquid Fei Bovis. 

Yellowish to brownish fixed oil with fishy odor, 

Oleum Morrhuse. 

Pale yellowish or colorless fixed oil oieum Adipis. 

Pale yellow to yellowish- brown oil Oleum Bubuium. 

Mel. 

N. Honey. — o. A saccharine fluid prepared by the 
honev-bee, Apis melliflca; class Insecta; order Hymenop- 
tera.— 'BL. Temperate and tropical countries. — r>. u Virgin 
honey" is a light-colored pale yellow, syrupy liquid, ob- 
tained by merely draining the honey-comb; "Clarified 
honey" is darker colored and is obtained by pressing the 
honey-comb, or by melting it and then expressing. Honey 
varies from a thin syrupy fluid to a lard-like consistence, 
and in color from a pale yellow to a yellowish-brown ; its 
taste and odor depend largely on the flowers from which it 
was gathered by the bees, but it always has a peculiar aro- 
matic odor and a sweet, peculiar flavor that sometimes 
leaves an acrid after-taste. On keeping for some time the 
sugar which it contains becomes granular. — c. It is prac- 
tically a solution of glucose in water flavored with the flavor 
of flowers modified and added to by the flavor of the gastric 
juice of the bee. — u. As a flavoring agent. Its use in 
mouth- washes should be discouraged, and glycerin be used 
instead, as the latter is antiseptic, while honey favors the 
fermentations on which some of the diseases of the mouth 
depend. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 43 

Fel Bovis. 

N. Oxgall; ox-bile. — o. The fresh bile of beeves; Bos 
Taurus; class Mammalia; order Buminantia. — 1>. When 
bought from the butcher it is contained in the gall-bladder; 
it is a greenish or greenish-brown viscid liquid, having a 
peculiar, unpleasant odor and an intensely bitter taste. 
Neutral or faintly alkaline. — u. In medicine only the puri- 
fied oxgall is employed as a tonic and laxitive, supposed to 
be beneficial in cases with deficient secretion of bile. The 
dose of purified oxgall is about 0.5 gram. 

Oleum Morrhuae. 

N. Oleum Jecoris Aselli ; Cod Liver Oil. — o. A fixed oil 
obtained from the livers of the cod fish ; Gadus Morrhua and 
other varieties of Gadus, Class Pisces; order Teleostia. — H. 
Seas of Northern Europe and America.— r>. There are three 
kinds of cod-liver oil, differing according to the mode of 
preparation; white or pale yellow, yellowish-brown and 
dark-brown. The pale-yellow oil is the kind demanded by 
the Pharmacopoeia, as it is made from the freshest livers, 
while the dark-brown is maie from partially decomposed 
livers. The taste and odor are characteristic, and are the 
best criterions for recognizing as well as judging of the 
quality of the oil. An oil that deposits a large quantity of 
solid granular fat at about 0° C. (freezing point) is of 
inferior quality; the best cod liver oil congeals at a con- 
siderably lower temperature. Specific gravity about 0.920 
to 0.925 at 15° C. — U. As a nutritive ; it is supposed also to 
possess some alterative properties. Dose: Tablespoonful 
three times a day. 

Adulterations. Cod liver oil is sometimes adulterated, 
and the official tests should be applied to determine its 
purity. 

Oleum Adipis. 

N. Lard Oil. — o. A fixed oil expressed from lard. — D. 
A colorless or pale yellow, oily liquid, having a peculiar 
odor and a bland taste; it has a specific gravity of 0.910 to 



44 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

0.920 at 15° C. At the freezing temperature (0° C.) it con- 
geals to a semi-solid white mass resembling lard in appear- 
ance. Official only because it is used in making the oint- 
ment of mercuric nitrate. 

Neat»s-Foot Oil (Oleum bubulum) is obtained by boiling 
the fatty tissue of cattle with water and skimming off and 
straining the oil. Pale yellow oil with little or no odor or 
taste. At freezing temperature (0° C.) it becomes opaque. 
Its specific gravity is about 0.916. Not used in pharmacy. 

Blood, Milk, White of Egg, and Yolk of Egg are sometimes 
described as drugs; the latter is the official part of the egg, 
but is always taken from fresh eggs and is described in 
Group III. 

Glycerin, Lactic Acid, Koumys, Kefir, etc., are prepara- 
tions and not drugs and therefore are not described in 
pharmacognosy. 

VEGETABLE DRUGS. 

We come now to the consideration of the more important 
group of vegetable drugs. To understand these drugs we 
must study several preliminary branches of knowledge, 
namely, Botany, structural and physiological, including the 
microscopical structure of plants; and Microscopy t) the 
extent at least of being able to make temporary preparations 
for examinations, and perhaps a few simple permanent 
mounts. 

BOTANY. 

Botany is of comparatively subordinate interest to the 
pharmacist and the study of a simple work on the subject, 
such as Gray's Lessons in Botany, will suffice for all 
practical purposes. There is a tendency in certain quarters 
to give botany an undue prominence as a study for pharma- 
cists, both as to the time devoted to it, and as to the amount 
of detail taught. 

This exaggeration of the importance of botany at the 
expense of time that might be more profitably devoted to 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 45 

pharmacognosy, reminds one of the old gentleman who said 
that the Germans, in speaking English, often put the 
" em-pha'-sis " on the wrong syllable. 

The study of botany is no doubt a fascinating one, calcu- 
lated to give much enjoyment to au enthusiastic student, 
but it should be taught in colleges of pharmacy with direct 
reference to the needs of the pharmacist, aiming merely to 
make him a good pharmncognosist and with no aim to make 
the druggist au accomplished and thorough botanist. If a 
student likes the study and wishes to perfect himself in it, 
he should do so under no mistaken idea that it is essential 
to his becoming either a good v harmacist or a good pharma- 
cognosist; this being kept in mind the student may devote 
as much time and study to botany as he pleases, but the 
essentials, as taught in the book referred to, are sufficient 
for practical pharmaceutical purposes. 

It is not the object of these notes to even present an out- 
line of botany, but every one who desires to follow these 
pages for stuiy, should carefully read one of the following 
books,: 

gray's lessons in botany; 

bastin's college botany; ov 

culbreth's BOTANY. 

From these hs can learn to know the different parts of 
plants when he sees them, which is practically all that he 
needs of structural botany now. The general facts in regard 
to the microscopical structure of plants will be studied a 
little farther on in these notes, and the details particularly 
relating to the different parts of plants forming separate 
groups of drugs will be considered when describing those 
groups. Recognizing the minor value of a botanical classi- 
fication of drugs, no stress is placed on this subject which 
may be of interest to the professional botanist, but is of 
little or no practical use to the pharmacognosist or phar- 
macist. Systematic modern pharmacognosy being based to 
a great extent on a knowledge of the microscopical structure 
of plants we must study this branch of knowledge rather 



46 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

thoroughly, and as a preliminary study we must devote a 
little time to a consideration of 

MICROSCOPY. 

This study, as taught in the St. Louis College of Phar- 
macy, includes not only the study of the microscopical 
structure of drugs, which is also taught in the lectures on 
pharmacognosy, but also the technology of the microscope; 
commencing with a study of the principles of optics it 
leads the student to a knowledge Of the structure and uses 
of the microscope and its accessories; it explains all the 
methods of preparing both temporary and permanent vege- 
table histological specimens; it teaches all methods of 
cutting, bleaching and staining sections, and all methods of 
mounting them, dry and in all the different media that are 
employed; all methods of measuring, drawing and photo- 
graphing microscopical preparations, for book illustration 
or lantern slides; and in fact gives such a knowledge of all 
matters pertaining to the microscope that the student 
becomes able to intelligently judge of the value of any 
microscope he may wish to buy and fitted to use the instru- 
ment for any branch of science whatever. 

In these notes we cannot dwell so extensively on the use 
of the microscope but must content ourselves with the 
general principles and simplest manipulations only. The 
student of these notes who is not a student attending col- 
lege, where the necessary microscopes are provided for use 
in the laboratory, need not imagine that it is necessary to 
spend much money to follow the notes ; in fact, a Codding- 
ton lens magnifying about ten diameters, or a quite simple and 
cheap " dissecting microscope," will be sufficient for most 
of the work to be described, and the cost need not exceed 
two or three dollars. With even such simple appliances 
the earnest student can follow the notes and examine the 
structure of drugs and become quite an expert pharma- 
cognosist, but if money is no object a good compound 
microscope may be bought and the investment will amply 
pay in knowledge and in pleasure. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 47 

A Luminous Body is one that emits light, such as the 
sun, stars, lamps, electric lights, etc. All our sources of 
artificial light are incandescent, or glowing from heat. 
Light is a wave-motion in the u ether " of space which per- 
meates our atmosphere as well ; it is emitted in every direction 
by a luminous body, and an undulation or wave of light 
once started proceeds in an absolutely straight line as long 
as it traverses a substance of the same density, as for 
instance, celestial space. 

A "ray of light" is an imaginary isolated wave or 
undulation going in a given straight direction and of prac- 
tically no width or thickness; really a " ray of light" does 
not exist, because light is not a substance but merely a 
motion. 

Opaque Bodies permit no light to pass through them. 

Transparent Bodies or Substances permit rays of light or 
light-waves to pass through them, so that we can see the 
form of objects beyond (as for example: air, water, glass, 
etc.) ; sometimes, however, a transparent body may inter- 
cept some waves of light, permitting only a portion of 
certain wave-length to pass through, the effect being that the 
transparent body appears not colorless but colored (as for 
example: red, blue, green or yellow glass, etc.). 

Opalescent, Translucent or Diaphanous substances permit 
light to pass through more or less perfectly, but their 
structure interferes with the course of the light waves, so 
that the form of an object cannot be seen through them 
(as for example: ground glass, white wax, etc.). This is 
due to irregular and interfering reflections and refractions 
which may take place on account of surface roughness, as 
in ground glass, or to the inner arrangement of the texture 
of the substance, as in tissue paper or white wax. 

Many translucent or semi-opaque substances may be 
made clearer or even transparent by filling the interstices in 
their texture with a substance having a refractive power 
similar to that of their fibers or particles, or by covering 
bheir surfaces with a varnish. 

A few simple experiments will prove instructive. Powder 



48 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

some clear glass and put it into a test-tube; it will appear 
as an opaque white powder; pour on it some turpentine and 
it becomes transparent. Drop a little balsam of fir on the 
rough surface of ground glass and press on it a piece of 
clear transparent glass; the ground glass becomes trans- 
parent by the abolition of irregular surface refractions. 
Take white tissue paper and fill its pores with olive or cas- 
tor oil; it becomes translucent by the abolition of interfer- 
ing refractions and reflections within its textures or fibers ; 
or compare ordinary tissue paper with paraffin paper, in 
which latter the interfibrous spaces have been filled with 
paraffin. 

Opaqueness is often only relative ; a single sheet of white 
paper is translucent, but a dozen or a hundred sheets 
together will probably be as opaque as a brick wall. A gold 
coin is opaque ; moisten a piece of glass and attach a bit of 
gold-leaf and by holding it up to the light the gold will be 
found to transmit a greenish, bluish or purplish light, the 
color depending on the thinness of the gold-leaf. That the 
gold itself is transparent in thin enough sheets is proved by 
examining the film with a microscope or lens ; any holes in 
the leaf will transmit white light, while the greenish or 
bluish light passes through the gold where the microscope 
shows no break of continuity. 

It is beyond the scope of these notes to enter at length 
into a consideration of the structure of the microscope. A 
simple microscope is a single lens, or an achromatic combi- 
nation of lenses acting as a single lens. Such lenses are of 
low power but will enable the student to do a great deal of 
really good work and to acquire much valuable information. 
A Coddington lens, or a so-called linen- tester, should be 
obtained. Still better, because more convenient, is a " dis- 
secting microscope " of the simplest kind, because this is 
provided with an upright rod for supporting the lens, leaving 
both hands free for manipulating the specimen or slide which 
is being examined. For the more thorough examination of 
the mounted specimen a compound microscope may be 
employed. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 49 

A few dozen slides (glasses three by one inches in size), 
and half an ounce of cover glasses of about five-eighths inches 
diameter may be purchased from the optician. 

If we wish to examine a drug in a hurry, with no intention 
of keeping the specimen, we require little more apparatus. 
If it is a powder, as for instance lupulin, kamaia, lyccpodium, 
or any other powdered drug, a little of the powder is placed 
on a slide and moistened with a drop of water or glycerin. 
A cover glass is then carefully dropped on it, first lowering 
one edge and then dropping the cover glass so that the air 
is driven out but not with enough force to drive out the 
liquid and the specimen. A little practice will enable one to 
judge how much liquid to take. Such a preparation requires 
a rather high power, however, and cannot satisfactorily be 
examined unless one has a compound microscope. If water 
or glycerin does not make the object transparent, we may 
have to treat it as we did the tissue paper in our little pre- 
liminary experiment; we use turpentine or oil to make the 
drug more transparent; if that will not make it clear, we 
take a drop of liquor potassa or of labarraque solution 
instead of water or glycerin. This will dissolve the cell 
contents and render the cell transparant, but the specimen 
will soon swell and be spoiled. This method will therefore 
answer only for temporary and immediate examination. A 
little soaking in alcohol is often of use in removing too dense 
color. 

Seeds, surfaces of leaves, fruits like anise, fennel, cara- 
way, etc., may be examined without any preparation, and 
with the single lens. Many objects of great interest and 
beauty will be found among these drugs. Roots, rhizomes, 
barks, etc., should be cut with a sharp knife so as to pre- 
sent a smooth surface. This surface may be examined with- 
out farther preparation, but usually more detail can be seen 
by putting a drop of glycerin on the smooth surface, drop- 
ping a cover glass on it, and then examining. Some drugs 
of this kind, however, will not show much detail and sec- 
tions must be prepared. The drug is soaked in water to 
soften it, and then a thin transverse slice is cut from it with 

4 



50 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

a sharp knife or razor. A little practice will enable the 
student to cut fairly good sections in this way, but for 
making first-class mounts a mechanical device known as a 
microtome must be used, so that the sections may be of 
uniform thickness throughout. Sections should be cut as 
thin as possible. 

Such a s ction may then be laid in a drop of water, gly- 
cerin or alcohol on a slide and covered with a cover glass. 
It is then ready for examination. If it is not clear enough 
it may be soaked for a few moments in liquor potassa, then 
gently washed in water with a camel hair pencil, and exam- 
ined as just suggested. Or the freshly cut section may be 
dropped into alcohol, then changed to absolute alcohol, theu 
into oil of cloves, and then transferred to a slide, on which 
a drop of oil of cloves has been placed, covered with a 
cover glass and examined. 

Watch glasses or the lids of small glass or porcelain oint- 
ment jars are good receptacles in which to do any soaking 
that may be necessary. 

If the slide is to be examined with a microscope care 
must be taken to wipe away any surplus liquor that may 
be pressed out from under the cover glass, to avoid soiling 
the instrument. After the specimen has been examined it 
may be washed off in water, or in a little alcohol if neces- 
sary, and the glasses rubbed dry with a bit of tissue paper. 

But if we wish to preserve the specimen for future study, 
a permanent mount must be made. The same kind of glass 
slides, three by one inches, is used, but it would be well to 
have an assortment of sizes of cover glasses, some of one- 
half, five-eighths and three-fourth inches in diameter. A 
fuw dozen small brass curtain rings, five-eighths inch out- 
side diameter, should also be obtained. 

The appliances required for making permanent mounts are 
few and inexpensive ; the student should procure a few camel 
hair pencils ; a few watchglasses or one-half ounce or one 
ounce white porcelain ointment jars with covers; a deli- 
cate pair of scissors ; one or two small knives similar to 
the smallest knives in a student's dissecting case; a few 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 51 

needles, the eye ends of which have been pushed into the 
ends of small wooden handles, for which cheap pen-hold- 
ers will answer very well. 

A few spring clips for holding on the cover glasses may 
be bought from the optician. A few one-ounce vials are 
provided with perforated corks in which ordinary pipette 
medicine droppers are inserted so that the end of the pipette 
will reach nearly to the bottom of the vial. 

A few small bell glasses to cover slides which are in pro- 
cess of preparation and protect them from dust may also be 
used, but placing such slides in the bottom of empty cigar 
boxes and closing the lid is just as good. 

In the vials with pipettes we put in one glycerin; in 
another creosote water; in a third a mixture of glycerin 
and water; and we add a few ordinary vials, one containing 
alcohol, one absolute alcohol and one oil of cloves. 

Evaporate a few ounces of clear, clean Canada balsam 
until it is thick and nearly solid on cooling. Pour one-half 
ounce of this thick balsam, while warm, into a vial and add 
one-half fluid ounce of chloroform; leave the balance of the 
balsam in its thick condition. Set all these vials in a closet 
or deep cigar box where they are protected from dust. 

Buy a small vial of each, Brunswick black, zinc-white, and 
picro-carmine. 

If economy does not forbid, a section-cutter and a self- 
centering turn-table may be added, but the latter are not 
necessary for serviceable work, but they add much to the 
mechanical perfection of the finished slides. 

There are practically three methods of mounting slides : 
dry; in a solid medium or in fluids. 

We will fir^t consider dry mounts. Of many drugs we 
need simply examine the surfaces, for instance, when com- 
paring digitalis leaves with mullein leaves which are said to 
be occasionally added or substituted for the first; or in exam- 
ining seeds and fruits like anise, etc. 

First: Prepare the slide by pasting in the center a disc of 
black needle paper, or of white paper, made by punching 
with a punch such as is used for miking gun-wads; then 



52 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

punch similar discs from different thickness of paper, card- 
board and thin paste-board. In these discs punch holes one- 
half inch in diameter with a smaller punch, so that when 
completed we have rings of different thicknesses. When 
we want to make a dry mount we paste one of these rings 
on the paper disc on the slide, choosing black or white as it 
looks best for a particular object, so that we have a cell 
with a white or black bottom, and of a depth which is 
slightly greater than the thickness of the object to be 
mounted. A bit of the leaf, preferably cut with a cork borer 
on a piece of leather into a disc a little less than one-half 
inch ia d ameter, is then fastened to the bottom of the cell 
by means of a little shellac varnish or tragacanta paste and 
pressed flat by gently pressing into place wnh a cork having 
about the same diameter as the object. Clean a cover glass 
three-fourths inch ia diameter by gently rubbing between 
two pieces of moist filtering piper between the thumb and 
index finger, then in the same manner with a soft, well- 
worn silk handkerchief and after rendering the upper side 
of the paper ring adhesive with shell ic varnish or tragacanth 
paste put on the cover glas*. Finally punch a hole one -half 
inch in diameter from a strip of colored glazed paper and 
paste it over the upper surface of the slide so that the open- 
ing in the strip corresponds to the cell in which the prepara- 
tion is mounted ; the edges of the paper must then be cut with 
scissors along the edges of the slide and when dry a label 
may be pasted on one end of the slide on which the name of 
the object is written. 

Seeds and other dry opaque objects may be mounted in 
the same way, care being taken that the cover glass is as 
near as possible t > the upper surface of the object without 
actually touching it, and that the prepared cell and the 
object itself is thoroughly dry before the cover glass is put 
in place. 

Second: Paint a circle five-eighths inch in diameter on the 
slide with Brunswick black or with zinc-white, according to 
whether the object looks best on a dark or white background. 
Place one of the curtain rings on this painted circle and 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 53 

allow it to dry. The bottom and sides of the cell thus 
formed must then be painted with the same cement and 
allowed to harden. Cells of this kind should be prepared 
some days or even weeks in advance, so that they are thor- 
oughly seasoned when wanted for use. The well-dried 
object to be mounted is to be fastened to the bottom of the 
cell by a little of the same cement of which the cell is made, 
and allowed to harden in place, always protecting the cells 
against dust in all stages of preparation. Finally paint a 
thin circle of the same cement on the upper edge of the 
curtain ring and place a clean, dry cover glass five-eighths 
inch in diameter on the ring. When fast, the outside of the 
cell is painted witti the same cement so that it overlays the 
glass cover, and if this work was all done on the self-center- 
ing turn-table, ornamental colored rings may be put on as a 
finishing touch. 

If the zinc- white cement becomes too thick to flow read- 
ily, thin by adding a little benzole. Use the bru:>h well 
filled with cement when putting in the bottom of the cell, 
so that when the cement dries it will be perfectly smooth 
like fine white porcelain. Instead of making dark cells with 
Brunswick black, the bottom of a zinc-white cell may be 
painted black with ivory black, such as is put up in col- 
lapsible tubes for artist's use. Such cells are harder and 
there is no danger of the cement softening in warm weather 
and allowing the objects to sink into it as sometimes occurs 
when we use Brunswick black. 

We come now to the consideration of balsam mounts but 
as this method is used mainly for sections of drugs we will 
first consider the making of the sections. The first requi- 
site is that the section be cut thin enough; if possible, not 
more than one cell thickness of the substance to be exam- 
ined or from V300 to V200 °* an i DCa thick. Practically, cut 
as thin as pos>ibie without tearing the sections. The knife 
should be very sharp and should be carried across the drug 
with one steady sweep and not by cutting backward and for- 
ward. Some drugs can be cut without preparation, but the 
majority of drugs require previous softening in water over 



54 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

night, or if very resinous they may be soaked in alcohol 
to remove the resin and then in water to soften them. 
Woods and woody roots, rhizomes, hard barks, etc., may 
sometimes require boiling in water to make them soft 
and flexible enough to give good sections. If the sec- 
tions are to be cut without a microtome or section 
cutter, the substance is held in the left hand and the 
sections are cut by drawing the knife towards oneself, 
much in the manner in which lead pencils are sharp- 
ened. A little practice will enable one to do good work, 
although, of course, the serviceable portions of the sec- 
tions may be smaller than when cut by aid of a section 
cutter. 

If the student works with a section cutter in which 
an extra tube moves up and down in a well-tube, the 
object is wedged in this tube with cork or elder pith, or 
if it is hard like wood, by simply forcing a piece of it into 
the tube so that the end projects about one-third or one- 
fourth of an inch. This tube, with the object to be cut 
into sections, is then placed in the section-cutter and 
gradually raised by means of the screw until the knife 
carried over the top plate of the apparatus cuts off a por- 
tion of the object and leaves it with a smooth surface. 
While cutting, the surface of the object and the knife 
should be kept thoroughly wet to prevent tearing the 
sections. By means of the screw the object is raised a 
trifle and a section cut off with one steady sweep of the 
knife; if it tears, try a litte thicker section, until the 
proper thickness has been ascertained, when the balance 
of the sections are cut of that thickness. Of course the 
knife must be sharp and without notches on its cutting 
edge, and the proper thickness of section for each object 
is the thinnest that can be cut without tearing. When 
cut, the section is carefully floated off into a watch-glass 
or small porcelain saucer by means of a small quill 
camel-hair pencil. Section after section may be cut 
until the object no longer projects above the inner tube, 
and if we were at all careful we ought to have thirty or 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 00 

forty sections from the one-third of an inch of object 
that protruded. 

Another method of cutting sections which is better 
adapted to soft or small objects, is to imbed them in 
paraffin ; make a paper tube of the thickness of the inner 
tube of the section -cutter, fit a cork in the end of this 
tube and then fix the object to be cut (which must first 
be properly softened by soaking in water, if necessary) 
to the cork in such a manner that it will stand upright in 
the tube when the cork is inserted in one end of it; then 
pour in melted paraffin, which, when it cools, will form a 
plug of paraffin in which the object is imbedded. This 
plug is then fastened in the section-cutter and sections 
are cut from it in the same manner as just described. 
These sections are then placed in benzin to dissolve the 
paraffin, the sections are then removed to alcohol and 
from that they may be transferred to such other mounting 
media as may be desired. 

We examine these sections with a lens, choose one of 
the thinnest and most perfect ones and mount it perma- 
nently in glycerin or glycerin jelly, as will be explained 
presently, so that we may study the cell-contents, starch, 
etc. 

The sections of many drugs, however, are unsatisfac- 
tory when examined and mounted in this way and we 
must first clear them; the simplest way being to place a 
section in a watch-glass with distilled water and then 
wash it gently by stippling with a camel hair pencil, so 
that much, if not most, of the cell contents may be 
washed out. If this simple washing sufficiently clears 
them, we mount such a section, but usually we must clear 
them with chemical solutions to remove all the cell- con- 
tents, which, by the way, are of little or no importance 
in the examination of most of the drugs. 

Add to a drachm or two of distilled water, six to 
eight drops of liquor potassae and one-half fluidrachm of 
labarraque solution, and place a few of the sections into 
this mixture. This removes starch, protoplasm, chloro- 



56 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

phyl, etc., and leaves only the cell- walls, which are at 
the same time bleached white. To succeed well in this, 
the sections should be cut thinner than the length of the 
cells so that every cell in the section is opened from one 
side or the other; if the section is so thick that many 
cells remain whole, the cell-contents will swell and lose 
their shape, but will not wash out and the result will be 
disappointing. Allow the sections to remaia in this 
solution, from a few hours to a few days, as may be 
necessary; an occasional examination will show when 
the sections are clear, when this solution should be 
poured off and replaced by two or three changes of dis- 
tilled water, and when sufficiently washed, by a twenty 
or twenty-five percent mixture of alcohol with water, in 
which the sections can then be preserved for years until 
wanted for permanent mounting. 

Some prefer to use undiluted labarraque solution in- 
stead of the above diluted solution, but it requires more 
careful watching, and even in spite of this, many delicate 
sections go to pieces and are ruined; of course the un- 
diluted solution may clear and bleach a section in a few 
minutes, but it is usually safer and better to " make 
hast. 1 slowly," and the method recommended will give 
excellent results. 

Immersing the sections in chlorine water will also 
sometimes give excellent results; when sufficiently 
bleached, wash in several changes of distilled water and 
preserve in diluted alcohol of about twenty-five per cent 
strength. 

One of these sections may be stained by placing it in 
a watch-glass or small porcelain dish and covering it 
with a few drops of picro-carmine, which stains scler- 
enchyma or stone cells yellow and cellulose cell-walls 
red. After ten or fifteen minutes we may drain off the 
picrocarmine and pour on a few drops of alcohol (com- 
mercial ninety-five per cent) and gently wash out the 
excess of staining fluid with a soft camel-hair brush; 
then transfer to another watchglass and cover with a 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 57 

little alcohol, drain off the alcohol and add a little abso- 
lute alcohol to remove all water from the section and 
finally transfer carefully from the absolute alcohol to a 
little vial containing oil of cloves, in which the section 
may remain until it is to be permanently mounted. Of 
course we may as well take a number of different sections 
aud treat them together as there will usually be little or 
no difficulty to correctly label them, as we can compare 
with the sections preserved in the diluted alcohol, but if 
the sections closely resemble each other we must keep 
them separated unless we are quite familiar with their 
appearance. 

In giving elementary intructions for the preparation 
of mounts, such as are intended to be here given, it is 
unnecessary to dwell on the different methods of stain- 
ing for the differentiation of different tissues. Much 
interesting information on this subject can be obtained 
from Professor Bastin's excellent work en vegetable 

histology, LABORATORY EXERCISES IN BOTANY, Which all 

who wish to do advanced work of this nature will do 
well to obtain. 

When we have accumulated a number of sections in 
oil of cloves we are ready to mount them in Canada 
balsam. For this purpose it is well to have a warm 
table, which can be cheaply made by a tinsmith in the 
shape of a tin box about ten inches square on top and 
from four to six inches deep; a screw-cap is soldered in 
one corner to allow water to be poured in, and near it a 
circular cup-shaped depression which will hold the bottle 
in which we keep the hardened Canada balsam. When 
the box is filled with hot water and the screw-cap is 
fastened down, the apparatus should be water-tight. 
This box may be fitted into a wooden tray for convenience 
of handling and to avoid too rapid radiation of heat from 
the box. When filled with hot water the top of the box 
becomes a hot table which will not become overheated 
and which will retain sufficient heat to allow us to work 
for several hours before it becomes too cool. 



58 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

When we wish to mount sections in balsam, we first 
clean a few more glass slides and cover- glasses than we 
will probably require, to make allowance for accidental 
soiling. The tin box is then filled with water having a 
temperature of 65° to 80° C. (150° to 175° F.), the screw- 
cap fastened down and the bottle with hard balsam placed 
in the cup-shaped depression or well. When the balsam 
is melted a few slide glasses are laid on the warm surface 
of tin and a little of the balsam is then placed in the 
center of each slide by means of a small syringe or a 
glass rod, care being taken that no air bubbles are 
inclosed in the balsam. We next take a forceps and 
taking the stained sections from the oil of cloves, one 
by one, we thrust each deep into the liquid balsam on a 
slide. The adhering oil of cloves will remain on the top 
of the balsam. We then take another forceps and lifting 
a cover-glass by its edge warm it slightly over a lamp 
and hold it over the drop of balsam on th<i slide. We 
take the straight needle in its holder in our left hand and 
hold it at the left margin of the balsam drop, or a little 
to the left of the section in the center, if the balsam has 
spread too far. The lower edge of the cover-glass is 
then steadied against the needle-point and the cover is 
allowed to slowly sink down on the balsam, driving before 
it all the oil of cloves and some of the superfluous bal- 
sam. If we are not careful to push the section to the 
bottom of the balsam on the slide, the section may occa- 
sionally be carried out with the superfluous balsam, but 
if it shows a tendency to do so, we can usually manipu- 
late the cover-plass to prevent it or use one of the needles 
to hold the object under the cover glass. We may also 
occasionally require the needles to tease out any air- 
bubbles that may accidentally be held under the covers, 
but a little practice will enable one to judge pretty 
accurately how much balsam to put on the slide and how 
to manipulate to avoid air-bubbles. 

By a little more or less pressure on one side or the 
other of the cover-glass the section can be correctly cen- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 59 

tered and a spring clip may be applied to press the cover- 
glass down firmly as well as to make the film of balsam 
as thin and flit as possible, and then the slide may be 
laid away on a board to cool. 

When the slides are cool and the ba'sam is sufficiently 
hardened the superfluous balsam miy be carefully re- 
moved with a warmed kuife, but care mast be taken not 
to get the knife under the edge of the c >ver-glass or the 
latter may be cracked and the slide spoiled. In such a 
case the whole slide must be warmed, the pieces of 
cover-glass slipped off to the side and the section, if 
uninjured, returned to the oil of cloves to be remounted 
later on in the same way. After the most of th o balsam 
is removed with the knife, the slide is cleaned with a soft 
toothbrush dipped in alcohol, then with another soft 
brush with soap and water, finally rinsed in clean water 
and dried, and then a label is affixed to one end of the 
slide. Or if a finish is desired, the slide may be put ou a 
turn-table and a ring of shellac varnish (shellac dis- 
solved in alcohol) run around the cover-glass, overlap- 
ping the edge of the cover-glass and a little beyo id it on 
the slide. 

Or we may mount our sections in a drop of the solution 
of the thickened balsam in chloroform or benzol, manip- 
ulating as explained above, but without warming. The 
section should be rinsed in chloroform or benzol, as the 
case may be, before placing it in the balsam on the slide, 
and when the spring clip is applied the slide must be laid 
away to harden. It takes a long time for it to do this, 
and this method of mounting is not recommended, except 
for very delicate sections. 

It has been suggested that a ring of the size of the 
cover-glass be painted on the back of the glass slide on 
the self-centering turn-table to enable the manipulator 
to center his object properly when mounting in either 
balsam or glycerin je^y; when the mount is ready this 
ring of color is of cjursj washed off in cleaning the 
Slide. 



60 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

For most purposes it is best to mount in one of the 
fluids already mentioned; but as the mounts in glycerin 
jelly present nearly all the advantages of the fluid 
mounts, combined with the simplicity of balsam mounts, 
we will first consider this method of working before pro- 
ceeding to the more difficult mounting in cells. 

Glycerin jelly may be purchased from the dealer in 
microscopical sundries. It is practically a jelly made 
by dissolving gelatin in glycerin with some antiseptic to 
prevent moulding. The mass is similar to that of the 
hectograph pad, or to gelatin suppositories, special care 
being taken to have the materials absolutely clean and 
free from dirt. It is more satisfactory to buy the small 
quantity needed, than to attempt to make it. 

For mounting in glycerin jelly proceed as for 
balsam mounts; use the warm table, but at a 
lower temperature than for bal>am, only just 
enough heat being used to liquefy the jelly, the bottle in 
which it is contained being placed in the depression in 
the table. A watch glass with a small quantity of jelly 
is placed on the table and the sections to be mounted are 
transferred from the preserving fluids to this glass and 
immersed in the fluid glycerin jelly, where they are left 
for a few minutes until they are thoroughly permeated 
by the mounting medium, the watch glass being mean- 
while covered to prevent dust from falling into it. Of 
course it will be understood that sections or objects pre- 
served in oil of cloves cannot bo mounted in this 
medium, only tho-e in the watery fluids being available; 
those kept in alcohol may be rinsed in distilled water 
and then transferred to the jelly. If objects are mounted 
direct from the preserving fluids it may prevent the set- 
ting or gelatinizing of the medium and the mount may 
prove a failure. 

The mounting is proceeded with exactly as in the 
case of balsam, using the liquefied jelly instead of 
the liquefied balsam. The dropper should be filled 
by emptying of air, then inserting the end in the 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 61 

liquid and filling gently and slowly to avoid air 
bubbles, and it should never be emptied of its air 
while the point is immersed in the jelly, as this would 
blow the jelly into a froth from which it would be almost 
impossible to remove air-bubbles. After the cover glass 
is applied the slide is put away to cool, but the spring 
clips should not exert more pressure than is absolutely 
necessary to keep the cover in place and the object fiat. 
Upon cooliug the glycerin jelly " sets, " or becomes 
solid, and when thoroughly set the slide must be washed 
in very cold water to remove the excess of glycerin jelly 
outside of the cover glass; it is then rinsed in clean cold 
water, dried with a \rt of blotting paper or filter paper 
and laid away to thoroughly dry, when it is finished by 
painting the edge of the cover glass with a ring of 
cement, such as white-zinc cement, Brunswick Black, 
dammar varnish, or balsam in chloroform. This ring of 
cement is painted so as to be about one-eighth of an 
inch- wide, overlapping the edge of the cover-glass so as 
to fasten the cover-glass to the slide. 

For mounting in fluids a turn-table (self-centering 
preferred) is almost indispensable, and the needles in 
handles and one or a few cements complete the necessary 
materials and appliances. Brunswick Black is the 
most generally useful cement but shellac dissolved In 
alcohol, decanted after settling, is also good. The 
cement is kept in a vial stopped with a very fine velvety 
cork to avoid particles of cork from falling into the vial; 
in the under end of the cork a small camel-hair pencil 
is inserted, which is left in the cement when not in use, 
so that it is always soft and ready for use. 

The cells should be prepared in advance by painting a 
circle on a slide; the inside of this circle must be smaller 
than the cover-glass to be used, and the outside must be 
somewhat larger than the cover-glass. The slide is 
laid away in dust-proof boxes until this cement-ring is 
thoroughly hardened. If the cell is not deep enough, a 
second or even third or fourth ring is painted over the 



62 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

first, allowing each to harden before adding the next. 
An assortment of such cells should be kept ready for use. 

The objects to be mounted should be soaked in the 
fluid in which they are to be preserved for some time so 
that they may be thorougly permeated with the fluid. 

When ready to mount the preparation place a slide 
with a suitable cell on the turn-table and center it; 
then paint a ring on the cement cell so that it will not 
touch the inner margin of the cell at any point. With a 
shellac cell this ring may be painted with benzole solution 
of balsam; with a Brunswick Black cell Brunswick Black 
is used. When this fresh ring becomes "tacky" or 
sticky, the cell is carefully filled with the fluid (glycerin, 
creosote or chloroform water, etc.), and the object is 
placed as near as possible in the center of the cell; this 
is best done by laying a thick piece of plate-glass on a 
black paper or velveteen, and using this as a table 
upon which to work, because a delicate object is 
thus best seen. The object is carefully arranged in the 
cell by aid of the mounted needles; after which a clean 
cover-glass is taken up with a delicate pair of tweezers 
or forceps in the right hand. A needle is held against the 
cement cell on the left side, the edge of the cover-glass 
is rested against it and then the cover is allowed slowly 
to settle down on the cell. By fir^t breathing on the 
under side of the cover-glass, the fluid wiil more readily 
come into contact with it, and there will be less liability 
to imprison air-bubbles in the cell. When the cover- 
glass is in place, press it down gent y until it is cemented 
in place by being in close contact with the sticky cement, 
which can readily be seen by reflected light. As long as 
any part of the circle of cement is not in contact with 
the cover-glass, a fault exists which will probably result 
in destroying the mount. In pressing the cover into 
contact with the cement,' the pressure must not be applied 
to the center of the cover-glass, as this will yield to the 
pressure, a portion of the fluid will be forced out, and 
when the pressure is removed an air-bubble is apt 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 63 

to be drawn under the cover- glass; then the slide is 
spoiled. 

If the cover-glass has been successfully brought into 
place, the slide is laid aside for a little while to allow the 
cement to become sufficiently hard to permit tue slide to 
be washed under a gentle stream of flowing water from 
a sponge ; then lay aside to dry. When dry, paint a circle 
of the same cement over the edge of the cover-glass, 
overlaying the latter and fastening it to the slide. If the 
glycerin was not completely washed away before adding 
this last ring, the cover-glass will finally crack off and 
the mount will be ruined, while, if the ring of cement 
painted on the hardened cell was allowed to touch the 
glass within the cell, the cement will probably run in and 
eventually replace the fluid and thus also ruin the mount. 
If care was exercised, the cell so made is practically per- 
manent, although it may be well to paint a thin ring of 
cement over the outside ring every few years to make 
sure of the integrity of the cell. I have hundreds of 
mounts in glycerin, or glycerin and water, which were 
made over fifteen years ago and which have never been 
repainted, but which are perfect in all respects to this 
day. In the watery mounts fungoid growths sometimes 
appear, ruining the original slides; but sometimes these 
slides are very valuable on account of the interesting 
growths that have obscured the original object. Espe- 
cially interesting is the study of the conjugation of some 
of these low forms of vegetable growth, and until we are 
sure that this adventitious objeet is valueless we should 
not be in a hurry to reject the slides as ruined. 

The following precautions should be con>tantly held 
in mind when mounting in fluids: — 

Glycerin, or glycerin and icater in equal parts, make the 
best and most permanent mounts. Pure glycerin in the 
course of time renders delicate objects very transparent 
and the glycerin and water is perhaps preferable for 
that reason. The glycerin protects against fungoid 
growths. 



64 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

When putting on the ring of cement just before mounting, 
be sure that it is not put on the inner third of the cement cell, 
for when the cover-glass drops into place the fresh 
cement will be drawn by capillary attraction, to the 
inner edge, but not down the inner edge. If it touches 
the glass at the inner edge of the cement cell, the cement 
will run in and ultimately ruin the slide. 

Exert no pressure on the cover-glass, except at its margin, 
when putting it in place. Be sure to have enough but 
yet not too much fluid in the cell, so that the cell may be 
completely full when the cover- gliss is in its place; as 
glass is elastic, pressure on the cover-glass, except at its 
margin, will force out too much fluid and the strain of 
the glass to regain its shape will draw in air or cement, 
to the great injury of the mount. 

Finally, be absolutely sure that all traces of glycerin are 
washed off from the slide and that the slide is perfectly dry t 
before putting on the finishing circle of cement; careless- 
ness in this respect will incur the risk that the cover- 
glass may crack off from the slide. Of course this 
applies as well to the circles of cement that constitute 
the cell itself. Even if only a minute crack appears at 
any point, the water of the mounting fluid will eventually 
evaporate and the cell become valueless. 

Only a few words need be added in regard to objects 
other than sections of stems, roots, fruits, etc. The 
epidermis of leaves may be separated by macerating the 
leaf in water for some days when the epidermis can be 
peeled or torn off in large shreds, — the epidermis is best 
mounted in fluids. Powdered drugs are best examined 
by mounting in water or glycerin, after having been first 
macerated in dilute alcohol to remove too dense color 
if this is necessary. Or the powdered drug may be 
mounted in balsam after treating in the same way as 
has been described for sections. But powdered drugs 
should not be treated with Labarraque solution, nor 
with potassa solution, because these would destroy starch 
and other characteristic parts of the object to be ex- 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 65 

amined. It is advisable to mount slides of what are 
known to be pure powdered drugs, for comparison with 
suspected specimens, but the latter must not be con- 
sidered to be willfully or intentionally adulterated, unless 
foreign histological elements constitute an appreciable 
proportion of the specimen, as accidental foreign matter 
may remain, due to imperfect garbling before grinding. 
Particles of dust, bits of cotton or jute fibre from the 
original package, insect or vegetable scales or hair, etc., 
are often and unavoidably present. 

Many writers recommend that drawings of the objects 
be made by the aid of the camera lucida, but this is a 
useless waste of time, as the specimen itself may be re- 
examined whenever one wishes to do so. All slides 
should be kept in trays, lying flat, and be protected from 
frost in winter and from too great heat in summer. If 
pictures are desired, it is preferable to photograph the 
object, and a few words in regard to sketching and 
photographing the microscopical preparation will there- 
fore be of value. 

The alumni of a college, for instance, could do a great 
work for the furtherance of pharmaceutical education, if 
they became interested in such work, by photographing 
preparations of official and officinal drugs, and makiug 
lantern slides of the same; then the alumni association, 
gathering these from its various members, could from 
time to time, donate such collections to the college, 
enabling it year after year to illustrate more and more 
fully the subject of pharmacognosy. Many of the alumni 
are no doubt amateur photographers; why could they 
not occasionally photograph a nook in the fields or 
woods, a verdure-clothed bank by the road or stream- 
side, a corner of the fence, etc., showing our indigenous 
medicinal plants as they grow. A "photograph of a 
flowering branch, or a twig with fruit, showing the 
botanical features of these wild-growing plants in detail, 
would all be valuable and welcome additions to the illus- 
trative material and appliances of any college of phar- 
5 



66 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



macy, and eacli contributor to such a collection would 
not only have pleasure in the work itself, but would feel 
gratification in the thought that he had contributed to 
the success of the college of his choice, and the name on 
the label of his contribution would keep his name in 
grateful remembrance in the college. 



i i i i f i i i 



It may interest some to know how to photograph 
microscopical preparations in an easy manner and with- 
out expensive apparatus. I therefore describe my own 
apparatus, which is figured herewith. It consists of a 
wooden box, about five feet in length; one end is a closed 
box (a) with door and Russian iron roof and chimney, 
made perfectly light-tight, even the holes for ventilation 
or draught being covered on the inside in such a man- 
ner that no ray of light can escape. The other part of 
the box is open on one side and the inside of this part of 
the box is stained a dull black. In this part a stand or 
frame (d) slides backward and forward, in which a hole 
3£ x 4£ inches in size has been cut with its center exactly 
opposite the center of the lens, which will presently be 
described. The front of this hole is covered by a thin 
sheet zinc plate in which has been cut very accurately a 
hole three and one-eighth inches in diameter, and in such 
a manner that when a photographic plate is put in the 
frame behind the zinc the hole will be centered over the 
plate, leaving about one-sixteenth of an inch of the plate 
above and below this margin of the zinc. The plate is 
held tightly in place by a spring clip. In the partition 
between the short closed and long open part of the box a 
hole is also cut and either within this wooden partition 
or on the side towards the open part of the box a sliding 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 67 

shutter is attached which can be pulled out and pushed in 
by a knob on the outside (6), and on the side towards 
the closed part of the box a brass plate with screw-thread 
to carry a microscope objective is firmly fastened. This 
is shown in the figure below. 




The stage is movable, sliding in a groove, and may be 
moved back or forward by a milled wheel attached to a 
long screw, the focusing wheel being shown at c in 
figure of the box. The upright stage is like a plain mi- 
croscope stage and holds the slide or object to be pho- 
tographed by means of two spring clips. 

Any method of illumination can be used;* an electric 
incandescent light, a microscope lamp with condenser, or 
a plain coal oil lamp with bull's eye condenser, or the 
whole apparatus may be open at the end opposite the 
stage and fitted into the shutter of a dark room so that a 
heliostat mirror may be made to throw direct sunlight on 
the object to be photographed. In this case, however, a 
dark room is necessary and the apparatus must fit into 
the shutter closely so that no rays of light are admitted. 
I prefer a coal oil or a Welsbach gas light. 

To photograph with the latter light no dark room is 
necessary, any room answering the purpose on a dark 



68 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

night. Any dark room lantern with ruby light is used. 
To photograph, place the object on the stage, adjust the 
illumination and close the door to the closed part of the 
apparatus. The room should now be absolutely dark, 
but for the rays of light from the safety ruby lantern. In 
the carrier a porcelain plate, three and one-fourth by four 
and one-fourth inches in size, has been placed so that 
the matt surface shows a white disc three and one-eighth 
inches in diameter through the hole in the zinc plate, and 
towards the lens. Open the shutter and move the carrier 
forward or backward with the right hand, at the same 
time working the focusing wheel with the left hand until 
the projected image is a little less in size than the focus- 
ing disc of porcelain; then use a focusing lens and adjust 
the focus accurately; this can be done much better in 
this manner than by light transmitted through ground 
glass at the back of a camera. If necessary, readjust 
the illumination so that the disc is evenly illuminated, 
and then close the shutter slide. Remove the porce- 
lain plate and insert a three and one-fourth inches by 
four and one -fourth inches dry plate without moving the 
carrier. Then open the shutter and make the exposure, 
the length of time varying with the plates used, the 
objective employed and the distance of the carrier from 
the lens. A little experience will teach this very soon. 
The plate may then be placed in an envelope and marked 
with the name of the object and the number on the grad- 
uated part of the box. These graduations are arbitrary 
but equal distances apart; say one or two inches, and 
we prepare a table showing the rate of enlargement 
for every objective we use and all the marks on the 
graduated box. Of course we make these tables by pro- 
jecting a stage micrometer on the , porcelain plate and 
measuring the projected image and calculating the degree 
of enlargement. The envelopes containing exposed 
plates may be put in a dark box until we have exposed a 
number; or we may develop each plate as soon as it is 
exposed, so that if it is over or undertimed, we can 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 69 

expose another without the trouble of readjusting and 
refocusing. 

Such plates, when finished, are intended for making 
standard size lantern slides by contact printing, but, of 
course, different sized carriers can be made for larger 
dry-plates. The apparatus should be made large enuugh 
for any sized plate it may be desirable to use. 

My own preference for photographing whole sections, 
etc., is to use a low objective, a four-inch, for instance, 
and move the carrier to a greater distance. A better 
result is obtained than by using a higher power at a 
shorter distance. 

When the focusing is done, I take a little strip of 
opaque gummed paper, previously cut and kept assorted 
in boxes, according to the rate of enlargement, and paste 
it on a part of the unexposed plate, but within the circle 
of the zinc disc, outside of the image of the object, if 
possible ; when the plate is developed, this strip comes 
off and leaves a transparent space, on which I draw with 
a fine pen and photo-engravers' ink a scale representing 
one millimeter divided into fifths of a millime- 
ter, at the rate of enlargement indicated by the position 
of the plate carrier and the objective, as previously ascer- 
tained and already described. This scale is drawn as in 
the accompanying figure (111 — n , and when a 

lantern slide is made it appears on the latter as a white 
scale on a black space. It is far more impressive in 
teaching the relative sizes of objects than any verbal 
statements of the rate of enlargement. 

As to the photographing itself, i. e., the exposing, devel- 
oping, etc., it does not differ from any other photographic 
work, but of course each one will probably have some 
preference for a certain make of dry-plates or a certain 
developer. I have obtained my best results with the 
"Hammer" dry-plates and the Eikonogen and Hydro- 
chinon developer as recommended by Carbutt for his 
lantern slide transparency plates, which latter are good 



70 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



for making the lantern slides. But for a good negative, 
with full delicate detail, I use only the " Hammer " 
plates. 

This work is instructive, and I hope some of the 
alumni of the various colleges of pharmacy will become 
interested in it, and let the colleges benefit by contrib- 
uting lantern slides to the collections of their alma mater. 

Some authors place much stress on drawing the 
objects examined. To me it always appeared to be 
a waste of time, but if drawings are wanted they may be 




made with the camera lucida, but preferably by arrang- 
ing the microscope as shown in the following figure, 
and then projecting the image downwards on a piece of 
paper by means of a plane mirror or a rectangular re- 
flecting prism. If the work is done at night no box is 
needed, a book or sheet of pasteboard between the paper 
and the lamp or source of light beinsj sufficient. This is 
the easiest method of making a drawing. 

A little more difficult and at the same time expensive 
method, is to rule a piece of paper lightly with lead pencil 
into sixty-four squares, by drawing nine parallel lines 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 71 

each way at right angles to each other at equal distances 
apart, and then drawing a circle with one arm of the di- 
vider or compass at the point of crossing of lines in the 
center, and the circumference of the circle touching the 
four sides so that the entire circle is contained in the 
square. An optician can furnish an eye-piece to the mi- 
croscope, with a glass disc ruled in the same manner, so 
that the field of the microscope, as determined by the 
diaphragm of the eye-piece, is divided exactly as the cir- 
cle on the paper. The drawing may then be made by 
copying the image in the field of the microscope off-hand. 
Still, but few who use the microscope are expert at 
making drawings, and except as memoranda or notes, 
these drawings have little value and photographs are 
preferable. 

Further details of the work necessary for a proper use 
of the microscope should be obtained by every student in 
a college of pharmacy, by taking the instruction in the 
microscopical laboratories, and by those who are not 
students at colleges of pharmacy by studying some of the 
special works on microscopical technology. But for the 
purpose of following these notes on pharmacognosy, the 
foregoing essentials may suffice. 

It is not the object to enter on any lengthy consideration 
of the minute structures of plants from the stand-point 
of the botanist or the biologist but from the stand-point 
of the pharmacognocist or druggist, and the notes will 
treat therefore mainly of the elementary facts of vege- 
table histology. It is presumed that the student is 
familiar with general structural botany, as it is explained 
in Gray's Lessons in Botany; or if he is not, he should 
read that book carefully before proceeding with a study 
of these notes. If he has studied that little work he will 
have learned that notwithstanding the multiplicity of 
plants and the apparently infinite variety of forms, the 
structure is yet very simple when compared with the 
complex organisms of the animal kingdom. In the flo wer- 
ing plants, for instance, there are but three different parts, 



72 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

root, stem and leaf, which are metamorphosed or modi- 
fied to answer all the varied requirements demanded of 
them by the growing plant, and all organs not at first sight 
recognizable as one of these three parts, may be shown 
to be such by a careful examination of the structure and 
function. As we recognize the same limb in the pectoral 
fin of the fish, the wing of a bird or bat, the paddle of the 
whale, the foreleg of a quadruped and the arms of 
quadrumana or bimana, so we see the stem in branch or 
tendril, rhizome, tuber or bulb, or even in the pulpy 
mass of the fig or strawberry. 

But while the external appearance of the organs of a 
plant may be very diversified, undergoing various modi- 
fications for many different purposes, we find little 
difference in the minute structure. The student will 
therefore have comparatively little difficulty in under- 
standing this subject, especially as in pharmacognosy we 
have little or nothing to do with the living processes in 
the plant cells or with the phenomena to be observed in 
living protoplasm, but only with the " formed " materials, 
cellwalls, starches, oils, resin, etc. 

If we examine a small portion of any part of a plant 
under the microscope we will find it made up of small 
structures which are called cells. In the lower orders of 
plants, the Algce, etc., we may find plants consisting of 
single cells, or of rows of cells of the thickness of only 
one cell, and in some of these we can study the pheno- 
mena of plant life and cell-structure to good advantage. 
But we can also study the plant-cells as we find them 
in the higher plants, and especially in the more succulent 
or growing parts of the stem, leaf or root, or in the 
pulpy portion of fruits, such as apples, 
cranberry, strawberry, etc. 

The cell consists of a cell- wall com- 
posed of cellulose, enveloping a sub- 
stance which is called protoplasm, and 
within this is a small body termed a 
nucleus, within which in turn may be 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 73 

one or more smaller bodies called nucleolus or ww- 
cleoli (pi.). 

The cell-wall may be absent in some of the lowest 
forms of vegetable life, when the cells are called naked 
or free protoplasm, etc., as in the amoeba, and some young 
algae; or the nucleus is not seen, although this is often 
due to the fact that protoplasm and nucleus are of the 
same density and transparency, in which case the nu- 
cleus can, however, be demonstrated by staining it by 
soaking the preparation in some staining solution, as in 
a solution of Hematoxylin or in a solution of carmine 
in water made slightly alkaline by the addition of 
ammonia and afterwards washing in a weak solution 
of acetic acid. Still, this is not necessary to be done in 
the study of pharmacognosy. The figure shows the 
essential structure of a cell, in the primordial cell of 
Stephanosphcera pluvialis, after Sachs, and as the cell is 
single, not pressed upon by other cells, it is round, 
which may be said to be the normal and typical shape of 
a cell. 

Many druggists have an aquarium in which a small 
plant with long grass-like blades is cultivated. This 
plant is the Vallisneria spiralis and it offers an oppor- 
tunity of examining the cell which should not be 
neglected. Take out a large leaf, those turning slightly 
yellow being best for the purpose. With a sharp knife 
or razor cut it into thin longitudinal sections and place 
one of these.on a slide under a coverslass and keep moist 
with water, taking care that the water does not wet the 
upper surface of the cover glass. Examine with an 
objective of comparatively high power, say a one-fourth 
or one-fifth inch objective. As there are many cells 
pressing each other, the cells are compressed and will 
appear in such a section to be quadrangular. The proto- 
plasm flows around the interior of the cell in a steady 
current, carrying with it the green chlorophyll bodies 
and the large transparent colorless nucleus, which is, 
however, readily seen because its refractive power differs 



74 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



from that of the protoplasm and the cell-fluids ; the cell- 
walls are also plainly seen. 

In ordinary language we often speak of the vegetable 
cell when we really mean the empty cell-wall, as in the 
microscopical preparations from which we have removed 
the cell-contents as already explained, but we shouid 
not forget that this use of the word " cell " in describing 
the structure of a drug is conventional and not scien- 
tifically correct. The cell-wall is formed from and by the 
protoplasm, and once formed is not re-absorbed. It is 
alive only in the sense in which hair or fingernails are 
alive; it is called "formed" material, and once formed 
remains even after all life has ceased in the cell and the 
protoplasm has all been absorbed from the cell. 

The size of vegetable cells is extremely variable, for 
while the average cell is stated by Carpenter to be about 
0.085 millimeter (3^ inch) in diameter, there are cells 
fully 0.85 millimeter (£$ inch) in size and others less than 
0.0085 millimeter (^nr inca ) m diameter. 



a A R r 

9 on a, 




As already stated, the typical shape of a single cell is 
round, but it may also occasionally be oval (a and b in the 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 75 

figure). When cells are joined together, mutual pres- 
sure at the points of contact is apt to modify the shape, 
as in the long thread-like filaments of many algae, when 
the cells become cylindrical, as in c; and this shape is 
also found in the soft interiors of many plants in which 
the aggregations of cells is not a mere thread, as 
in the soft parts of sarsaparilla. If only a few cells are 
joined to form a vegetable hair, the individual cell may 
assume the conical shape sh^wn in d. 

But in the interior parts of plants it is more common 
that the cells are compressed from all directions, and the 
shape becomes more or less regularly twelve-sided, 
as in /, which in section will appear as six-sided j and if 
the growth is more rapid in one direction than in others 
the cells will be elongated in that direction as in g and h, 
but they will still appear six-sided on section. 

Occasionally the cells may be more or less prismatic in 
shape, as in i, j t or k, but this is not common. All such 
cells abutting on each other with broad surfaces are 
parenchymatous cells; they are usually not much 
longer than they are broad, and are usually soft-walled, 
and therefore they do not give much strength to the plant. 

An important modification of the shape of cells is that 
figured at e, where the cell is shown as elongated and 
pointed at the ends, the fusiform or spindle-shaped cell; 
in the tissues of the plant the ends of these cells inter- 
lace and as they are usually hardened, or lignified 
(woody), they give strength to plants. The wood of our 
trees, for example, is made up of such fusiform cells 
which often are ten or even a hundred times as long as 
they are broad, and these cells are called prosenchym- 
atous cells. 

When the cell is young it is completely filled with 
protoplasm, a portion of which may be differentiated from 
the remainder so as to form the nucleus. The cell-wall 
may be scarcely more than a delicate layer on the out- 
side of the cell in its earlier stages, but this soon becomes 
surrounded with a denser wall of cellulose. When a cell 



76 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

of this kind is subjected to the action of any medium 
capable of attracting water from the protoplasm the latter 
will shrink away from the cell-wall and will then appear 
to be surrounded by a delicate membrane which is called 
the *' primordial utricle; "but this membrane is pos- 
sibly only a product of the chemical action of the medium 
on the protoplasm, and is probably no more a membrane 
than is seen when we carefully open an egg into boiling 
water, when the white of egg on the outside at once 
coagulates and appears to be a white membrane around 
the still transparent albumen within. This contraction of 
the protoplasm by the action of reagents, such as glycerin, 
alcohol, etc., is seen in the accompanying figure, which 

represents cells 
from rhubarb 
root, taken from 
the soft mass 
left after mak- 
ing an infusion 
and then placing 
in alcohol; two 
of the cells are 
shown empty, 
the others show 
contracted pro- 
toplasm. 

The angular 
mass represents 
the stellate crystals of oxalate of lime which are plentiful 
in rhubarb root. 

As the cell grows older and larger, spaces occur 
in the protoplasm which are filled with a watery fluid; 
feuch spaces are called vacuoles^ and the fluid which 
they contain is called the cell-sap, which increases in 
volume until the protoplasm occupies but a small part 
of the cell contiguous to the cell-wall and finally dis- 
appears altogether. The cell then ceases to take 
active part in the life of the plant and serves mechani- 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 77 

cally by osmosis through its cell-walls, or by capillary 
attraction, to carry moi-ture from the rootlets to the 
growing and living cells of the plant. At last this too 
may cease and the dry cell, empty or filled with mineral 
or other deposits, as in the inner or heartwood of trees, 
serves only as mechanical support to the living tissues. 

From the protoplasm may be elaborated various organic 
substances which are of importance in the economy of the 
plant; and the moisture taken from the soil holds in solu- 
tion more or less inorganic material which is carried up 
into the tissues of the plant, where it is finally deposited 
without, however, necessarily taking part in the life pro- 
cesses of the plant. 

As evaporation of moisture from the plant takes place 
mainly from the leaves it is here that much of this inor- 
ganic material is deposited, and upon burning different 
parts of plants and weighing the residue it is found that 
leaves leave the largest percentage of ash. 

In the tissues of the plant inorganic substances are de- 
posited in various forms, often in combination with or- 
ganic acids constituting some of the proximate principles 
of the plant; sometimes they are deposited in the cell- 
walls, in the form of small crystals, or the whole cell-wall 
may be so loaded with inorganic material that it will re- 
tain its shape even when the organic materials have been 
destroyed, as in diatoms, or in the epidermis of Equise- 
tum, in which silica is deposited. 

Or lime-salts are deposited in the interior of the cell, 
in the protoplasm; either in single crystals, as in the 
epidermal cells of onion peel, or in bundles of long slen- 
der crystals, as in the stem of lilies or of fuchsia, or in 
skunk-cabbage, when they are called raphides, a Latin 
word meaning needles ; or the crystals may be in stellate 
aggregations, as in the oxalate of lime crystals in 
rhubarb, shown in the last illustration. 

Protoplasm is an indispensable part of the cell-contents 
of every liviug cell, but it is of little interest to the 
student of pharmacognosy, who is mainly concerned with 



78 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



those substances which have definite form when seen 
under the microscope. Of the almost innumerable 
organic substances that are found in plants starch is of 
most interest in the study of drugs, because its various 
forms may help to distinguish one drug from another, 
although in examining powdered drugs it may occasion- 
ally be necessary to afrply chemical tests to determine 
some of the formless constituents of the cells. 

Starch is found 
in most plants and 
consists of more or 
less regular grains 
with a structure 
that is often char- 
acteristic of the 
plant or drug. 
^Typical grains of 
starch may be ob- 
tained for study 
by slicing a potato 
and pressing the 
cut surface against 
a glass slide, plac- 
ing a drop of water on this and covering with a thin 
cover-glass and examining with a high power objective. 
In the illustration we see several large grains of potato 
starch, the oval form being most common, although quite 
a number are irregular from mutual compression in the 
cells, and a few are compound by the adhesion of two or 
more. By making a section of the potato at right angles 
to the surface and mounting in water or glycerin the ex- 
tent to which starch grains are crowded in the cells may 
be seen. In potato starch the size varies considerably, 
large, intermediate and small grains being plentifully 
found; in wheat starch there are large numbers of large 
round grains and of quite small grains and few of inter- 
mediate size ; while in corn starch nearly all grains are of 
uniform size. 





NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 79 

Most kinds of starch show peculiar layers or concen- 
tric markings around a dot or "hilum," which is gen- 
erally excentric. If examined with the polariscope 
starch is seen to polarize light with a cross radiating 
from the hilum 5 as shown in the figure. 

Starch is to the plant what fat 
is to an animal — surplus food 
material stored up for future 
use. 

If, in examining a drug, we are I 
in doubt about the nature of any I 
grains we see, we may test for 
starch by soaking the substance 
under examination in watery sol- 
ution containing free iodine, as 
for instance, a few drops of tincture of iodine in water, to 
which a grain or two of iodide of potassium may be 
added; this will stain the starch grains blue. 

In some plants, especially Compositae, no starch is 
found, and the food material is not deposited in solid 
form but remains in solution. This substance is inulin, 
but it is of little interest to the pharmacognist. If a drug 
containing inulin is soaked for some days in alcohol the 
inulin is precipitated and becomes aggregated in spherical 
masses of an apparently radiating crystalline structure, 
forming ,€ sphsero- crystals; n these sometimes occupy 
several adjacent cells, the cell- walls apparently not inter- 
fering with their arrangement. Iodine stains inulin 
yellowish-brown by the mechanical deposit of iodine in 
the fissures of the sphsero -crystals, and not by any real 
staining effect. 

Aleurone grains are found exclusively in seeds, espe- 
cially oily ones. They are food reserve in the form of 
rounded or oval grains resembling starch grains, but are 
not colored blue by iodine. They appear to be homo- 
geneous until they are cleared by soaking in glycerin, 
when they are seen to contain a crystalloid or globoid 
body in the interior. Aleurone grains consist of albu- 



80 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

minoid or protein substances, the crystalloids of calcium 
oxalate and the globoids of calcium and magnesium 
phosphate. Aleurone is generally soluble in water, and 
sections intended to show these grains must be exam- 
ined in glycerin. Aleurone is of little importance to the 
pharmacognocist, although when peas or beans are added 
as adulterations to powdered drugs, the presence of 
aleurone grains may establish the fact of adulteration. 

Other protein grains, etc., are sometimes produced by 
precipitating the protein substances that are held in 
solution in the protoplasm and cell-sap; they do not 
naturally assume regular forms recognizable under the 
microscope, and while they are of interest to the student 
of vegetable histology and physiology they are of little or 
no interest to the pharmacognocist. The same is true of 
most other organic compounds, as sugars, tannin, extract- 
ives, alkaloids, glucosides, etc. 

Fixed oils are often visible in the form of highly 
refractive drops or globules. Resin masses, which are 
often deposited in special ducts or cells, may be identified 
by soaking the section in tincture of alkanna diluted with 
water, when the resin becomes colored brilliantly red; or 
by soaking in a watery solution of acetate of copper, 
when it becomes emerald green, but the staining in the 
latter solution requires several days. 

The simplest and primary cell-wall is cellulose. As 
we see the cell-walls in a section of a drug, the partition 
between any two cells is composed of the cell-walls of 
the two cells united by an interposed cell-cement, and 
under low powers and without differential staining it 
looks like one cell-wall. Ordinarily we speak of the 
empty cells consisting merely of sections of cell- walls, as 
in sections from which the cell-contents have been re- 
moved by the treatment spoken of when telling about 
the making of sections, as " cells," and a pharmacogno- 
cist is not much interested in any other cells; so that 
pharmacognosy is mainly concerned with the empty cell- 
walls. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



81 



Parenchymatous cells usually have cellulose walls. 
As plants grow older various changes occur in the cell- 
walls ; for instance, the thin epidermal cells of leaves 
change by a development of cuticle, a peculiar layer of 
cells the outer part of which is thickened and impervious 
to water; still later, on the branches and roots this 
cuticle becomes replaced by suber or cork, a more or less 
thick deposit of a different kind of cell, which is even 
more impermeable to water than the cuticle. 

Prosenchymatous cells often become lignified — that is, 
the cell-wall is changed to lignin, a hard and tough 
material forming wood. The wood of plants is com- 
posed of this modification of cell-wall, and it serves for 
mechanical support of the plant. 

A similar modification of the cell-wall is that by depo- 
sition of sclerogen (lignin?) within the original cellulose 
wall. This substance is deposited in layers, one within 
another, until the cell is often nearly filled with this 
material. But there are little pores which remain open, 
making communication from one cell to another by 
osmosis through the cellulose wall possible. In the illus- 
tration we see sclerenchym- 
atous cells from the carpel 
of star anise, all but one 
having these small pores 
filled with Canada balsam, 
so that they cannot be seen, 
while in one they are filled 
with air, which ren ders them 
plainly perceptible. The 
stones of fruits and the 
gritty particles in pears fur- 
nish interesting cells of this kind, but when they are 
found scattered among parenchymatous cells, as when 
they occur in the middle part of a bark, or scattered 
in the fleshy part of the pear, they are called "stone 
cells". Such cells are usually nearly round, while 
the sclerenchymatous cells which are found in the 
bast portion of the bark are also prosenchymatous or 





82 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

spindle- shaped. The stony parts of nuts furnish fine 
examples of stone cells. 

In the accompanying figure we see a 
transverse section of the bast-cells of 
cinchona bark, showing plainly how 
the small canals that run through the 
layers of sclerogen communicate with 
those in an adjacent cell. If we look 
down on the end of one of these small 
canals it will appear as a dot, and when 
the deposit is very thin the cell will look as if it was 
dotted, and it is then called a " dotted cell; " of this, 

beauriful examples can 
be found in Areca nut. 
Dotted cells may, how- 
ever, be of lignin as 
well. 

Sclerenchyma cells po- 
larize light, and a cross 
section of such a cell 
will show a polarization 
cross, as shown in this 
illustration of three 
Cinchona bast-cells un- 
der the polariscope. 
The distribution of sclerenchyma cells among the other 
cells of a plant or drug often gives such a character- 
istic appearance, that it becomes a valuable feature for 
the recognition of the drug. We have already learned 
that the words " parenchyma " and u prosenchyma " 
refer to the shapes of cells; the word " sclerenchyma " 
refers to the peculiar thickening of the cell-wall, and 
sclerenchyma cells may be either parenchymatous or pro- 
senchymatous in shape. 

Peculiar round dots or pores are found in the wood- 
cells of conifers, which are characteristic of that class of 
plants, and which are shown in the drawing of the wood 
cells of Pinus sylvestris ; the thickening of the cell-wall 




NCTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 83 

at first leaves a larger circular space, but this gradually 
becomes narrowed until we see the appearance as in a> 
a section of the cell-wall also being shown ; at b we see an 
older formation, the original cellulose cell-wall having 
been absorbed, thus allowing direct communication from 
cell to cell. Cells of this kind are called " pitted cells. " 



In many plants we find ducts or tracheids, consisting 
of large cylindrical ceils joined at their ends, the parti- 
tion walls afterwards being absorbed, thus producing long 
continuous tubes or vessels. Thickening by the deposit of 
lignin or sclerogen may take place in these ducts, as in 
simple cells, giving rise to variations in appearance, 
which are designated by distinguishing names. When 
the thickening is interrupted by small and circular pores, 



84 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



whether in the cell or in a duct, we say these structures 
are dotted; a dotted duct is seen in i, in the illustration. 
In reticulated ducts the pores are a little longer in a trans- 
verse than in a longitudinal direction, thus making the 
cell walls look like the meshes of a net as in a. When 
these meshes are regularly arranged in rows, the appear- 
ance may be similar to that of the rounds of a ladder; 




such ducts are called scalar If orm^ of which fine examples 
may be seen in ferns, and such a duct is shown in e. 

This resemblance to a ladder may be a little less evi- 
dent, as in y of the next figure, but it is still a scalari- 
form duct, but already indicating variations which 
lead to a deposit of sclerogen in spiral bands, 
as in w, which forms the spiral ducts. Other ducts 
have spirals interrupted with circular bands, as in 
o, while still others have the thickening only in circular 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



85 



bands, forming the annular ducts. All possible gradations 
or combinations between these different methods of 
thickening may, however, be found in the same duct. 
These ducts are found in the wood portion of plants. 

Still another form of duct which is of great importance 
in the life-economy of the plant, but of little impor- 
tance from a pharmacognosy point of view, is the sieve 
duct which is found in the bast of plants, and in which 




the thickening takes place only in the partitions between 
the different cells constituting the duct, which partitions 
are permanent and thickened like dotted ducts so as to 
resemble sieves placed between the cells. 

Latex ducts, or laticiferous ducts or vessels may be 
formed by the coalescence of cells, so that they form 
anastomosing vessels; they contain latex, a peculiar sub- 
stance containing oil, resin, caoutchouc, gum, etc., with 
water,in an emulsion, sometimes limpid, sometimes milky. 

Intercellular spaces, with no walls of their own, but 



86 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

formed by the surrounding cells, as flues in chimneys 
are bounded by the bricks, may serve as ducts, some- 
times containing air, as in many water plants, sometimes 
latex, oil, etc., as in the oil ducts of anise or fennel; 
when such spaces are nearly spherical they are sometimes 
called glands, although not properly such, as in orange- 
peel, cloves, etc. 

All these different forms of cells and duct formations 
unite to form tissues. A tissue may be described as a 
union of many cells for the performance of a common 
function. The different systems of tissues are : — 

Epidermal System. — In its simplest form merely a thick- 
ening of the outer wall of the outer cells, as in some 
thallogens ; in higher plants, a layer of cells, forming the 
epidermis, in and on which we find stomata or breathing- 
pores, hairs, glands, etc. On roots and stems this epider- 
mis is later on replaced by the formation of cork. The 
epidermal structures protect the more delicate structures 
within, and also prevent too rapid or excessive evapo- 
ration. 

Mechanical System. — This serves to give mechanical 
strength to the plant. It includes wood-cells, bast-cells, 
stone-cells, etc. The wood or xylem portion of fibro- 
vascular bundles belongs here. 

Absorbing System. — Structures by which food is 
obtained from the soil, or in parasitic plants from their 
hosts; of little importance in pharmacognosy. The root- 
hairs belong to this system. 

Assimilating System. — Consists of cells containing chlor- 
ophyll, therefore in the higher plants mainly the leaves. 

Conducting System. — The fibro-vascular bundles; ducts, 
sieve-ducts, etc. This system permits the passage of food 
materials, water, etc., from one part of a plant to another. 

Storing System. — Keceptacles for storing surplus food, 
Such as seeds, fruits, rhizomes, bulbs, roots, etc.* 

* These " Systems of Tissues " are quoted from Fluec^iger's 
Elements of Pharmacognosy. Strictly speaking seeds, fruits, 
eto*, are not *' tissues " but " organs." 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 87 

Aerating System. — Stomata and intercellular spaces to 
effect the interchange of gases in the interior of the plant. 

Secretion Storage. — To receive and store the secre- 
tions of the plant, as oil, resin, mucilage, etc. It includes 
intercellular spaces, cells, latex ducts, glands, etc. 

While a study of these systems of tissues is important 
from the botanical stand-point and even essential to a 
proper understanding of physiological botany, it must yet 
be remembered that the pharmacist has no more use for 
botany as such than has the physician, lawyer or preacher, 
or than has an architect, civil engineer or stonemason 
for geology or mineralogy, and it is only in so far as a 
knowledge of botany is of use in pharmacognosy that it 
is necessary to a pharmacist's education. Pharmacognosy 
deals with the anatomical facts alone, and it is a divergence 
and misapplication of time to study botany Cas the ten- 
dency seems now to be) from the botanist's stand-point. 
For instance, in studying physiological botany, we should 
want to study chlorophyll grains with reference to their 
functions as assimilating organs, and how they produce 
starch grains, which in turn we would study from their 
first inception in the chlorophyll bodies to the final 
perfect shapes in the cell. In pharmacognosy we only 
need to know chlorophyll bodies and starch grains when 
we see them, and only want to know whether certain struc- 
tures are present or not, and if present, what they look like. 

We will therefore study the tissues from a purely ana- 
tomical stand-point and in connection with the parts of 
plants in which they occur, and will next proceed to the 
consideration of the pharmacognosy of vegetable drugs. 

Adulterations . 

Drugs may be debased or tampered with in various 
ways. We meet with adulterations, sophistications, 
admixtures and substitutions. 

An adulteration is an addition of foreign substances 
to any article with the intention to defraud. When 
extract of poppy leaves is added to opium, or when leaden 



88 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

bullets or shot are inclosed in lumps of opium to increase 
the weight, these are adulterations. Bat it is also adul- 
teration when cheaper drugs of similar appearance or 
inferior or spoiled drugs of the same kind are added with 
intent to defraud. 

Sophistication is an addition of a spurious article 
closely resembling the true, as paraffin to white wax. A 
sophistication is, therefore, always an adulteration; but 
as an adulteration is not necessarily aa imitation of the 
genuine, an adulteration is not necessarily a sophistica- 
tion. 

Adulterations and sophistications always imply inten- 
tional fraud, and the nature of the adulterant is usually 
such that its use cannot exert any immediately injurious 
effects, however deleterious the ultimate effects may be, 
for no one is depraved or foolish enough to risk an 
immediately fatal effect for the sake of pecuniary gain. 

An admixture is the addition of one drug to another, 
and may be intentional, when it constitutes an adulter- 
ation ; but the term is usually restricted to those cases 
when the admixture is due to accident or ignorance, and 
with no intention to defraud ; the circumstances of the 
case generally show whether the admixture is due to one 
or the other of these causes, as when the added article is 
more expensive than the drug, or when it is dangerous to 
health or life, when it is evidently unintentional and not 
in any sense an adulteration. 

A substitution is when an entirely different substance 
is sold instead of the one asked for. Such substitution 
may, of course, be intentional, and, therefore, for fraud- 
ulent purposes, as when ceresin is sold instead of bees- 
wax, cottonseed oil for. olive oil, or Mexican sarsaparilla 
for Rio Negro sarsaparilla ; but such fraudulent substi- 
tution would not be an adulteration because the latter 
presupposes an intentional cheapening of the genuine 
article, and in cases of substitution none of the genuine 
article is present at all. A substitution may also be un- 
intentional, as when through ignorance one drug is sold 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 89 

for another resembling it, or when labels are accidentally 
interchanged, or when the similarity of names leads to 
the sale of a wrong article, as in a case where apocynum 
cannabinum was sold instead of cannabis Indica which had 
been ordered; but the label was " Cannabis Indica." 
Here the use of the English name u Iudian Hemp " for 
both drugs led to the mistake. Substitutions may fur- 
thermore result from carelessness, as when morphine is 
dispensed instead of quinine. 

It will therefore be seen that each of these terms — 
adulteration, sophistication, admixture and substitu- 
tion — has a distinct meaning, and that they should not 
be indiscriminately use 1, one for another. The first two 
terms always imply fraud; the other two sometimes 
imply fraud, but frequently imply ignorance or careless- 
ness. Adulterations and sophistications, therefore, sel- 
dom directly lead to dangerous results, while admixtures 
and especially substitutions, frequently give rise to 
serious or even fatal accidents. 

Formerly much attention was given to a study of 
adulterants, these being described with the same minute- 
ness as the drugs themselves, but now we generally 
restrict our study to the drugs, counting all that does not 
auswer the description of the drug under consideration 
to be foreign substance, and therefore one of the above 
forms of debasement. Adulterations that are of common 
occurrence or of characteristic nature will be described 
in these notes. We proceed now to the consideration of 
the pharmacognosy of the individual vegetable drugs. 

GROUP IX. 

HERBS — WHOLE PLANTS BOTANICALLY RECOGNIZABLE. 

While herbs or flowering tops are usually sufficiently 
complete to be recognized by their botanical character- 
istics, yet as a matter of fact works like Maisch's Organic 
Materia Medica do not classify them systematically as 



90 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

fresh plants are classified, for instance, in Gray's Manual. 

Moreover, by looking over the group-list, it will be 
seen that there are comparatively few whole flowering 
plants used as drugs, and even these are of subordinate 
importance, so that to study taxonomy for the sake of 
recognizing these few, reminds one of the mountain 
heaving in labor to produce a mouse. 

A large number of herbs and other " botanical drugs " 
are sold in compressed packages, and the retailer sells 
these as labeled and without opening the packages to 
determine the identity of the drugs, which, moreover, 
are often cut up before compression so as to be unrecog- 
nizable by their botanical features, when, of course, 
other characteristics, such as odor or taste, must be 
relied on for identification. In any case, however, these 
drugs must be softened by dipping in hot water, or by 
holding in the steam escaping from a tea kettle, so that 
they may be properly handled for examination. The 
flowers of most of these plants are very minute and must 
be examined with a lens; in the following drawings they 
are represented much enlarged. 

In pharmacognosy, while it is theoretically assumed 
that herbs are classified botanically, yet the books give 
such other methods of identifying these drugs as to make 
a knowledge of taxonomy practically superfluous, as will 
be appreciated by reference to this group in Maisch. 
It is true that at present, in some quarters, pharmacog- 
nosy is taught by botanists as if botany were the impor- 
tant study, and pharmacognosy but an incident to it, 
while in reality botany is and should be but a subordi- 
nate incident to the study of pharmacognosy. 

As a matter of fact, the best and easiest way to learn 
to recognize the drugs of this group is to get a sample of 
each drug and become familiar with its appearance, taste 
and odor, and in this way the same result may be reached 
in a few days that would require a year or two of practice 
in recognizing plants botanically, especially as many of 
the drugs of this group are not always in a condition for 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 91 

botanical determination, while the other characteristics 
are always present. 

The following is an enumeration of the more important 
drugs of this class, arranged alphabetically according to 
the orders to which they belong, although no great stress 
is intended to be placed on the classes. 

COMPOSITE. 

Leaves and tops Absinth inn) . 

Leaves and flowering tops Achillea. 

Flowering tops Enpatoriiim. 

Leaves and flowering tops Grindelia. 

Leaves and flowering tops Solidago. 

Leaves and tops Tanacetnm. 

GENTIANE^. 

Entire plant Cnirata. 

LABIATE. 

Leaves and tops Cataria. 

Leaves and tops Hecleotna. 

Leaves and tops Lycopns. 

Leaves and tops Majorana. 

Leaves and tops Marrnbi u in. 

Leaves and tops Melissa. 

Leaves and tops Mentha piperita 

Leaves and tops Mentha viriclis. 

Leaves and tops Monarda. 

Herb Scutellaria. 

LEGUMINOS.E. 

Tops Scoparins. 

LOBELTACE.E. 

Leaves and tops Lobelia, 

PAPAVERACE^J. 

Entire plant Chelidoniam. 

RANUNCULACE^}. 

Entire plant Coptis. 

Herb Pulsatilla. 

SOLANACE.E. 

Leaves and flowering tops Hyoscyamns. 

TTRTICACE^J. 

Flowering tops of female plant. Cannabis Indica. 

It must be remembered that drugs which should con- 
sist of only leaves, as belladonna, aconite,' eucalyptus 
or chimaphila leaves, or only ot flowers, as matricana, 
etc., often come into the trade in the shape of twigs or 



92 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



tops and may then also appear to belong to this group. 
Such drugs are described under the proper groups to 
which they belong. 




Composite.— Flowers in a close head, on a common receptacle, 

surrounded with an involucre, with five {rarely four) stamens 

inserted on the corolla, their anthers united in a tube (syngenesious) . 

Yellowish florets; leaves petiolate, pinnatifid Absinthium. 

White florets ; leaves thrice pinnatifid Achillea. 

White florets ; leaves connate -perfoliate Eupalorium. 

Yellow ray florets; leaves sessile, spatulate to lan- 
ceolate Grind; lia. 

Yellow florets; leaves linear-lanceolate Solidag'o. 

Yellow tubular florets; leaves alternate, pinnat- 
ifid Taiiacetnni. 




Absinthium. 

N. Wormwood. — o. Leaves and tops of Artemisia 
Absinthium; Gompositw* — h. Northern temperate zone; 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



93 



cultivated. — 1>. Leaves about five cm. long, hoary, 
silky pubescent, petiolate, roundish-triangular in out- 
line; pinnately two or three cleft with lanceolate seg- 
ments, the terminal one spatulate; bracts three cleft or 
entire; heads numerous, about three mm. long, subglo- 
bose; numerous small, pale yellow florets, all tubular 
and without pappus; odor aromatic; taste persistently 
bitter. — c. Volatile oil, bitter glucoside, etc. — u. Bitter 
tonic and stimulant. Dose: One to five grams in infu- 
sion, tincture or fluid extract. 




Achillea. 

N. Yarrow, Milfoil. — o. Flowering tops and leaves of 
Achillea Millefolium; Compositce. — H. Northern temper- 
ate zone. — D. Leaves from five to twenty-five cm. long, 
three pinnatifid, the divisions linear, three to five cleft, 
crowded; corymb compound, flat-topped; involucre 
oblong with imbricate scales; rays four to five, short, 
white (sometimes rose-color); disc-florets greenish- 
white, perfect; achenes flat and without pappus; odor 
aromatic, reminding somewhat of chamomile ; taste bit- 
ter. Should be free from coarse stems. — C. Volatile oil 
and a glucoside, achillein; etc. — u. Aromatic, stomachic, 
bitter tonic; similar to chamomile. Also supposed to 
act as an emmenagogue. Dose: One to five grams, in 
infusion or fluid extract. 

Enpatorium. 

N. Boneset, Thoroughwort. — o. Flowering tops of 
Eupatorium perfoliatum; Compositce. — H. North Amer- 



94 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

ica. — d. Stem hairy ; leaves lanceolate, united at the base 
around the stem (eonnate-perfoliate), tapering to a 
slender point, serrate, very veiny, wrinkled, downy 




beneath, ten to twenty cm. long; flower-heads with ten 
to thirty white florets; corymbs compound and large; 
scales of involucre linear-lanceolate. — c. A bitter neu- 
tral principle, eupatorin. — u. Bitter tonic, useful in 
intermittent fever, dyspepsia, general debility, etc. — 
The warm infusion is an excellent emetic and diapho- 
retic. Dose: One to five grams, best given in infusion or 
fluid extract. 

Grindelia. 

N. Grindelia. — o. Leaves and flowering tops of Grin- 
delia robusta and G. squarrosa; Compositce. — H. G. rob. 
west of the Rocky Mountains ; G . squarr. from the Missis- 
sippi westward to the coast. — 1>. Leaves about five cm. 
or less long, varying from broadly spatulate or oblong to 
lanceolate, sessile or clasping, obtuse, more or less 
sharply serrate, often spinosely toothed, or even lacini- 
ate-pinnatifid, pale green, smooth, finely dotted, thick- 
ish, brittle, most of them broken off from the stems 
and loose in the packages; heads many-flowered, sub- 
globular or somewhat conical; the involucre hemis- 
pherical, about ten mm. broad, composed of numerous 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



95 



imbricated spreading scales; ray florets yellow, ligulate, 
pistillate; disc -florets yellow, tubular, perfect; pappus 
consisting of two or three awns of the length of the 
disc-florets; odor, balsamic; taste pungently aromatic 
and bitter. 

In the cut, representing G. rob., a shows a dry flower- 
head, as in trade; b, same soaked in water; c, section of 




receptacle; d, disc-floret, enlarged; e, ray-floret; /, 
stigma, enlarged; g, fruit, enlarged. G. squarr., re- 
sembles G. rob., but is smaller and the ray-florets are 
sometimes wanting. The name "squarrosa" refers to 
the recurved points of the scales covering the flower- 
heads, but this peculiarity is present in both varieties. — 
C. Resin and volatile oil. — u. Employed in various 
affections of the organs of respiration, asthma, pertussis, 
bronchitis, etc.; it also is said to be diuretic and useful 
in catarrh of the bladder. Dose: One to five grams in 
fluid extract. 



96 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Solidago. 

N. Golden Rod. — o. Leaves and flowering tops of Soli- 
dago odora; Compositce. — H. North America. — D. Leaves 
three to five cm. long, entire, sessile, smooth, lanceolate, 




acute, pellucid -punctate ; flowerheads numerous, small, 
in one-sided curved racemes ; florets yellow, with bristly 
pappus; odor and taste aromatic, sweet, reminding of 
anise. — C. Volatile oil. — U. Slightly stimulant and car- 
minative; copious draughts of warm infusion produce 
diaphoresis, on account of the warm water taken. Dose : 
Two to five grams, best given in the form of fluid extract. 

Tanacetnm. 
N. Tansy. — o. Leaves and tops of Tanacetum vulgare; 
Compositce. Several pharmacopoeias prescribe the use 
of the flowers only. — h. Northern hemisphere; cul- 




tivated. — D. Leaves about fifteen cm. long; bipin- 
natifid, the segments oblong, obtuse, serrate or 
incised, smooth, dark-green and glandular; flower- 
heads corymbose, with an imbricated involucre, a 
convex, naked receptacle and numerous yellow 
tubular florets; odor, strong, camphoraceous ; taste, 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY, 



97 



acrid, bitter. — c. Volatile oil and a bitter principle, 
tanacetin. — U. Emmenagogue, to restore suppressed 
menstruation, and sometimes for the purpose of procur- 
ing abortion. It is seldom, if ever, successful in produc- 
ing the latter effect, unless the dose is so large that it 
produces fatal intestinal inflammations. It also possesses 
anthelmintic properties. Dose: Two to five grams, best 
as fluid extract; of the oil, one to three drops. 




Gentiane^. — Smooth herbs, with a colorless bitter 
juice; opposite, sessile, entire and simple leaves without 
stipules; solitary or cymose flowers, regular; calyx per- 
sistent; corolla mostly withering -persistent; lobes of cor- 
olla convolute in bud; stamens as many as the lobes of 
the corolla and inserted on Us tube: one -celled ovary with 
two parietal placentas or nearly the whole inner face of the 
ovary ovuliferous ; the fruit usually a tico-valved septicidal 
and many-seeded capsule; seed anatropous with a minute 
embryo in fleshy albumen. 
Two nectaries on each petal Chirata. 

Ctiirata. 

N. Chirata, Chiretta. — o. The entire plant, Swertia 
Chirata; Gentianece. — H. East India. — r>. Chirata comes 
in bundles about seventy-five cm. in length, of the shape 
shown in drawing. The root is nearly simple, about 
seven cm. long; stem branched, nearly one meter long, 
slightly quadrangular above, containing a narrow wood 
7 



98 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



circle and a large yellowish pith; leaves opposite, ses- 
sile, ovate, entire, five-nerved; flowers, numerous, small, 
With four-lobed calyx and corolla; with two nectaries 




on each petal. The whole plant smooth, pale brown, 
inodorous and intensely bitter. — c. Ophelic acid, chir- 
atin, etc. — u. Bitter tonic and febrifuge. Dose: Two 
to five grams, best given in the form of fluid extract. 




Chirata should be freed from the coarser woody stems, 
which contain little of the bitter constituents. 




Labiat2E. — Chiefly herbs, with square stems; opposite 
aromatic leaves, mostly dotted with small glands which con- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 99 

tain a volatile oil upon which depends the warmth and aroma 
of these plants; flowers axillary , chiefly in cymose clusters, 
these often aggregated in terminal spikes or racemes; more 
or less two-lipped corolla, upper lip of corolla two-lobed or 
sometimes entire, lower lip three-lobed; stamens inserted on 
tube of corolla, didynamous or diandrous ; ovary deeply four^ 
lobed, forming in fruit four little seed- like nuts or achenes, 
surrounding the base of the single style in the bottom of the 
persistent calyx and each filled with a single erect seed. 

Upper lip arched ; stamens 4 Cataria. 

Corolla small, 2-lipped ; stamens 2 Hedeoma. 

Flowers in axillary whorls ; stamens 2 Lycopus. 

Flowers in corymbose clusters; stamens 4. .Majorana. 
Flowers In dense, woolly, axillary whorls; 

Stamens 4 Marrubium. 

Flowers in small cymes ; stamens 4. Melissa. 

Flowers in obtuse spikes; stamens 4, short.. Mentha ppt. 

Flowers in slender spikes ; stamens 2. Mentha virid 

Corolla long, with narrow lip; stamens 2. . .Monarda. 

Flowers in axillary 1-sided racemes; sta- 
mens 4 Scutellaria. 




Cataria. 

N. Catnep, Catnip.— o. Leaves and tops of Nepeta 
Cataria; Labiatae. — H. Northern hemisphere. — D. Stem 
branched, downy gray; with petiolate, heart-shaped, 
oblong, deeply crenate leaves, with the under side 
whitish-downy. Cymose axillary clusters, dense and 

L.ofC. 



100 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

many-flowered, forming interrupted spikes or racemes; 
flowers with whitish corolla, with four stamens ascend- 
ing under the upper lip, the two lower stamens being 
shorter. Odor mint-like, taste bitterish and aromatic— 
C. Volatile oil, bitter extractive, etc. — u. Stimulant and 
tonic; stomachic; but most frequently used as a remedy 
for flatulent colic of infants. Dose: Two to five grams in 
infusion or fluid extract. 




Hedeoma. 

N. Pennyroyal.— o. Leaves and tops of Hedeoma Put- 
egioides; Labiatae. — H. North America.— D. Branching, 
hairy, roundish-quadrangular stem;leaves opposite, short 
petioled, oblong-ovate, somewhat serrate, about twelve 
mm. long; flowers in small axillary cy mules, with a tubu- 
lar, bilabiate five-toothed calyx, and a pale blue, spotted, 
bilabiate corolla, containing two fertile and two sterile 
stamens. Odor strong and mint-like; taste pungent, 
aromatic— C. Volatile oil. — u. Stimulant, carminative 
and emmenagogue. Dose : One to five grams in infusion. 

The fresh herb hung in rooms is much used to drive 
away mosquitos, and a spirit made by dissolving the oil 
in alcohol is used for the same purpose. 

Lycopus. 

N. Bugle, Bugleweed. — o. Tops of Lycopus Virgin- 
icws; Labiatce. — H. North America. — 1>. Stem obtusely 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 101 

quadrangular, with slender runners; leaves about five 
cm. long, short-petioled, elliptic-lanceolate, toothed 
above, smooth; flowers in axillary clusters, small; 




calyx bluntly four-toothed; corolla purplish and four- 
lobed; the right hand figure shows the mouth of the 
corolla with the stigma and two fertile stamens; the 
odor resembles that of mint ; the taste is bitter. — 
C. Volatile oil, a bitter principle and tannin. — u. Said 
to be astringent and sedative, and has been recommended 
to reduce the force of the pulse and allay cough, and to 
arrest hemorrhage from the lungs. Dose: Five to ten 
grams, preferably in the form of fluid extract. 




Majorana. 

N. Marjoram, — o. Tops of Origanum Majorana and 
O. vulgare; Labiatce. — H. Asia Minor and Southern 
Europe; cultivated. — D. 0. Majorana has the stem 
branched; leaves about fifteen mm. long, sessile, spatu- 
late or obovate, entire, grayish-green and hairy; flowers 
in clusters; calyx two-lipped ; corolla whitish, obscurely 
two-lipped; stamens, four, exserted and didynamous; 
taste pungent, odor aromatic. — C. Volatile oil. — U. 



102 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Stimulant, carminative and emmenagogue. Dose; One 
to five grams in infusion or fluid extract. 

O. vulg., a flower of which is figured, is also called Wild 
Marjoram, or Origanum,while 0. marj. is known as Sweet 
Marjoram, The latter is the better known because it is 
used by cooks as a condiment. 




Marrubium. 

N. Hoarhound. — o. Leaves and tops of Marrubium 
vulgare; Labiatce. — H. Northern hemisphere; culti- 
vated. — r>. Branches quadrangular; white, densely downy 
stems; leaves opposite, petiolate, roundish-ovate, about 
twenty-five mm. long, obtuse, coarsely crenate, strongly 
wrinkled, downy above, white hairy beneath, flowers in 
dense, axillary, woolly whorls ; with a stiffly ten-toothed 
calyx, whitish, bilabiate corolla and four included sta- 
mens; odor aromatic and taste bitter. — 
C. A bitter principle. — u. Bitter tonic 
and stomachic, in dyspepsia and in atonic 
conditions of the alimentary tract. Dose : 
Five to ten grams in infusion or in fluid 
extract . 

Melissa. 

N. Melissa, Balm. — o. Leaves and 
tops of Melissa officinalis; Labiatce. — H. 
Asia Minor, Southern Europe; natural- 
ized in U. S. — D. Stem branched, 
quadrangular, pubescent; leaves about 
five cm. long, petiolate, ovate, obtuse, 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



103 



somewhat hairy and glandular, rounded or subcordate 
at the base, with margin crenate; flowers in about four- 
flowered cymules; calyx tubular, bell-shaped, five 
toothed; corolla whitish or purplish; bilabiate; stamens 
four, didynamous; odor fragrant and aromatic; taste 
astringent and bitterish. — c. Volatile oil, tannin and a 
bitter principle. — U. Carminative, diaphoretic and em- 
menagogue. Dose: One to five grams in infusion. 

Mentha Piperita. 

N. Peppermint. — o. 
Leaves and tops of Mentha 
piperita; Labiatce. — H. 
Asia, Europe and North 
America. — D. Stems and 
branches quadrangular, 
often purplish; leaves 
about five cm. long, petio- 
late, ovate-lanceolate, 
acute, glandular and nearly 
smooth, with margin 
sharply serrate ; flowers in 
terminal conical obtuse spikes; calyx tubular, five- 
toothed, often purplish; corolla four-lobed, purplish, 
stamens four, short, inserted on 
corolla ; odor aromatic and taste 
pungent and cooling. — c. Vola- 
tile oil, which contains menthol. — 
U. Carminative and nervine. 
Dose : One to five grams in infu- 
sion. 

Mentha Viridis. 

N. Spearmint. — o. Leaves and 
tops of Mentha viridis; Labiatce. — 
H. Europe and North America. — 
D. Stems and branches quadran- 
gular and usually light-green; 
leaves about five cm. long, sub- 





104 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

sessile, oblong or ovate -lanceolate, acute, glandular and 
nearly smooth, with margin unequally serrate; flowers 
in slender acute terminal spikes ; calyx tubular, sharply 
five-toothed; corolla four-lobed, light purplish; stamens 
four, rather long; odor aromatic and taste pungent. — 
C. Volatile oil. — u. Carminative and nervine. Dose: 
One to five grams in infusion. 

Monarda. 

N. Horsemint. — o. Leaves and 
tops of Monarda punctata; Labi- 
ates. — H. United States, New York 
to Minnesota, south to Florida 
and Texas. — 1>. Stem nearly 
simple, minutely downy; leaves 
about five cm. long, pet- 
ioled, lanceolate, acute, gland- 
ular, nearly smooth with margin 
sparsely serrate ; flowers in whorls, 
with sessile, yellow and purplish 
bracts; calyx tubular, downy, flve- 
toothed ; corollatwo-lipped, yellow- 
ish with purplish spots on upper lip ; stamens two ; odor 
aromatic and taste pungent and bitterish. — c. Volatile 
oil. — u. Carminative, diaphoretic, emmenagogue. Dose: 
One to five grams in infusion. 

Scutellaria. 

N. Scullcap, Skullcap. — o. Leaves 
and tops of Scutellaria lateriflora^ 
Labiatce, — h. North America, west 
to Alabama and New Mexico. — d. 
Stem and branches quadrangular, 
smooth ; leaves about five cm. long, 
petiolate, ovate-lanceolate or ovate- 
oblong, with margin serrate ; flow- 
ers in axillary, one-sided racemes ; 
calyx two-lipped; corolla two- 
lipped, pale-blue; stamens four, 





NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



105 



didynamous; odor slight and taste bitterish.— c. Bitter 
principle. — U. Tonic. Dose : One to five grams in infusion. 





Leguminos^e. — Plants with papilionaceous or sometimes 
regular flowers; stamens ten {rarely five, and sometimes 
many) y monadelphous, diadelphous, rarely distinct; pistil 
free, single and simple, becoming a legume in fruit; seeds 
mostly without albumen; leaves alternate, with stipules, 
usually compound. 

Leaves usually absent; stamens monadelphous.. Scoparius 
Scoparius. 

N. Broom. — 
o. Tops of Cy- 
tisus Scoparius; 
Leguminosce. — 
H. Western 
As i a, Western 
and Southern 
Europe and nat- 
uralized in parts of America. — 1>. Stems thin, flexible, 
pentangular, smooth, tough, dark green and usually free 
of leaves; leaves, if present, small, trifoliate, leaf- 
lets obovate -oblong and entire; inflorescence racemose; 
corolla showy, yellow; stamens ten, monadelphous; 
odor peculiar and taste disagreeably bitter. — c. Volatile 
oil, sparteine, scoparin. — u. Diuretic and hydragogue 
cathartic, of value for removal of effusions in chronic drop- 
sies. Dose : Two to five grams in fluid extract or infusion. 




106 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 




Lobbliace^e. — Herbs with acrid milky juice; leaves 
alternate ; flowers scattered; corolla irregular, monopetalous, 

five-lobed; stamens 
five, free from the 
corolla, united into 
tube commonly by 
their filaments and 
always by their an- 
thers. 

Leaves alternate ; 
stamens united 
into a tube.. 

Lobelia. 

Lobelia. 

N. Lobelia, In- 
dian Tobacco. — o. 
Leaves and tops of 
Lobelia inflata col- 
lected after a por- 
tion of the capsules 
have become inflat- 
ed ; Lobeliacece. — 
, H. North Ameri- 
ca. — D. Stem erect, 
with hairy branches 
terminating in long 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



107 



racemes of pale-blue flowers; leaves about Ave cm. long, 
petiolate, ovate or oblong, pubescent, pale-green, with 
margin irregularly toothed, gradually diminishing into 
leaf-like sessile bracts; calyx adherent, five-toothed, 
becoming inflated in fruit ; corolla split down on upper 
side, bilabiate, the upper lip consisting of two rather 
erect lobes, the other lip spreading and 3-cleft; stamens 
five, united into a tube; fruit an inflated pod, inferior; 
odor slight, irritating, and taste at first mild, after- 
wards acrid and burning.— c. Lobeline, lobelic acid, 
etc. — tr. Sialagogue, expectorant, emetic, narcotic and 
purgative; in large doses powerfully depressant. Valu- 
able in asthma. Dose: As an emetic, 0.5 to 1.5 grams; 
as an expectorant in much smaller doses. 




Papaverace^e. — Herbs loith milky or colored juice ; 
flowers regular, with the parts in twos or fours; sepals two 
(rarely three) , fugacious, falling ojfwhen the flower expands ; 
petals four to twelve; stamens polyandrous, rarely as few as 
sixteen, distinct, hypogenous; ovary one- celled, with two or 
more parietal placentae ; fruit a dry one-celled pod or capsule. 

Flowers in long-peduncled umbels; capsule 

linear Chelidonium 

Ciieiicloiiiimi. 

N. Chelidonium, Celandine. — o. The entire plant 
Chelidonium majus; Papaveracece. — H. Europe; natur- 



108 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



alized In North America. — 1>. Root, several-headed, 
branching, reddish-brown; stem about fifty cm. high, 
hairy, light-green; leaves about fifteen cm. long, 
thin, petiolate, the upper oues smaller and sessile, 
obtuse, with margin coarsely crenate or incised and the 




terminal ones of ten three-lobed; flowers in small, long- 
peduncled umbels; sepals two; petals four, yellow; 
capsule linear, one-celled and many-seeded ; odor, when 
fresh, disagreeable and taste acrid. — c. The fresh plant 
contains a saffron- colored milk-juice. Chelidonine, 
chelerythrine, chelidonic acid, etc.— u. Diuretic and 
cathartic. Dose : One to five grams in fluid extract. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



109 




Ranunculace^. — Herbs, or some woody plants, xcith a 
colorless and usually acrid juice; flowers regular or irreg- 
ular, polypetalous or 
apetalousAoith the calyx 
often colored like a co- 
rolla, hypogenous; sep- 
als three to fifteen; 
petals three to fifteen or 
wanting; stamens num- 
erous, indefinite, rarely 
few; pistils many or 
few, rarely single, sep- 
als, petals, stamens and 
pistils all distinct and 
unconnected ; fruits, dry 
pods,achenes or berries. 
Rhizomes filiform, gol- 
den-yellow . . .Coptis. 
Cluster of leaves form- 
ing an involucre some 
distance below the 
flower Pulsatilla. 

Coptis. 

N. Goldthread. — o. 
Entire plant Coptis 
trifolia; Banuncula- 




110 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



cece. — H. Northern continents. — d. Rhizome filiform or 
threadlike, bright golden-yellow, with very thin rootlets ; 
leaves radical, from a scaly base, petiolate, trifoliate, the 
leaflets about one to two cm. long ; obovate-cuneate, ob- 
scurely three-lobed, sharply toothed; scape slender, 
naked, one-flowered; calyx petal-like, deciduous; petals 
small; stamens fifteen to twenty-five; pistils, three to 
seven, on slender stalks, maturing into divergent mem- 
branaceous pods containing from four to eight seeds; 
inodorous and taste very bitter. The drawing shows a 
flower with sepals and petals removed. — c. Berberine 
and coptine. — u. Powerful pure bitter tonic, used as 

a stomachic and appetizer 
in dyspepsia, apepsia, 
want of appetite during 
convalescence, etc. Dose : 
Two to five grams in fluid 
extract. 

Pulsatilla. 

N. Pulsatilla, Pasque 
flower. — o. The herb of 
Anemone Pulsatilla 
(Pasque flower) and of 
Anemone pratensis; Ra- 
nunculacece. — H. Europe ; 
Anemone patens, indige- 
nous to Western North 
America, is used for the 
same purpose. — d. 
Leaves radical, petiolate, 
silky-villous, twice or 
thrice deeply three-parted 
or pinnately cleft, with 
linear acute lobes, ap- 
pearing after the flowers; flowers large, purple, bell- 
shaped, the flowerstalk having a cluster of linear-divided 
leaves forming an involucre at some distance from the 




N 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Ill 



flower and often recurved so that the flower hangs down- 
wards; sepals petaloid; petals none; pistils numerous, 
forming achenes terminated by a bearded feathery style. 
The illustration shows the scape and flower of the 
Pasque flower, Anemone Pulsatilla. The herb should 
be collected soon after flowering, carefully preserved, 
and not kept longer than one year. The dried herb is 
inodorous, but has a very acrid taste. — C. Anemonin 
and anemonic acid, etc. — U. Diuretic, alterative, dia- 
phoretic, expectorant; little used. Dose: 0.3 gram. 




Solanace^e. — Herbs (or rarely shrubs) with colorless 
juice; leaves alternate; flowers regular, pentamerous, on 
bractless pedicels; stamens five ; corolla imbricate or valvate 
in the bud and mostly plaited; fruit a two-celled (rarely three 
to five- celled) many -seeded capsule or berry. 
Gray-green hairy leaves, irregularly lobed; 
flowers, or capsules within persistent calyx, 
often present Hyogcyamus. 

Hyoscyamns. 

N. Hyoscyamus, Henbane. — o. Leaves and flowering 
tops of Hyoscyamus niger; Solanacece. Only leaves and 
tops of the second year's growth should be collected; 
formerly only the leaves were official, and the twigs, 
flowers and fruits were rejected. — H. Europe and Asia; 



112 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



naturalized in North America. D. Long stems cylin- 
drical, hairy; leaf to twenty-five cm. long, ten cm. broad, 
with prominent midrib, grayish-green, hairy, especially 
on the under side; ovate or ovate-oblong, acute, sinuate- 
toothed, teeth large, oblong or triangular; flowers nearly 
sessile ; calyx urn-shaped, five-toothed, persistent ; corolla 




five-lobed, yellowish with purplish veins ; occasionally the 
capsule, inclosed in the persistent calyx, is present, as 
shown in the right-hand figure; odor heavy, narcotic, and 
taste bitter and somewhat acrid. — c. Hyoscyamine, etc. — 
U. Anodyne, narcotic and hypnotic ; used to allay cough, 
spasm, asthma, etc., and often added to purgatives to 
prevent griping ; used as a hypnotic when opium is not 
well tolerated. Poisonous in large doses. Dose: 0.1 to 
1 gram; average dose about 0.3 gram. 
Urticace^e. — Plants ivilh stipules, and monoecious or 

dioecious, or 
rarely perfect 
flowers', calyx 
regular and 
free; stamens 
as many as 
the lobes of 
calyx and op- 
posite them, 
^ or sometimes 

if£ fewer; ovary 

one-celled (rarely two -celled); free from calyx; fruit one- 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



113 





seeded; embryo in the albumen, when there is any, its radicle 

pointing upward. 

Flowers consisting of single sepal inclosing 

pistil or capsule Cannabis 

Cannabis. 

n. Cannabis, 

Indian Hemp. — 
o. Flowering tops 
of the f emal e 
plant of Cannabis 
sativa; TJrti- 
cacece. — H. Asia; 
collected in In- 
dia.— D. Only the 
flowering tops of 
the female plant 
should be used. 

Branches about five to seven cm. long, 
with a few digitate leaves with linear- 
lanceolate leaflets and numerous 
sheathing pointed bracts, each con- 
taining two small pistillate flowers, 
sometimes with the nearly ripe fruit, 
the whole more or less agglutinated 
with a resinous adhesive exudation; 
color, brownish-green; odor peculiar, 
narcotic and taste slightly acrid. 
This is the only variety of the drug 
recognized by the Pharmacopoeia. It 
should consist only of the short 
branches of the flowering tops of the 
female plants grown in East India, 
and from which the resin has not 
been removed; this article is known 
in the trade as gunjah, ganja or guaza. 
The variety of hemp grown in Russia 
and other parts of Europe, and in 
America, is almost destitute of resin 
and is medicinally worthless. — - c. 




114 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Resin. — U. Anodyne, nervine, in large doses narcotic. 
In Oriental countries it has been used as an intoxicant 
and exhilarant from times immemorial, being the 
"hasheesh" of those countries, and is sometimes swal- 
lowed, sometimes smoked. Its effects are indicated by 
its East Indian names, u Increaser of Pleasure," " Ex- 
citer of Desire," etc. Used in tetanus, insanity, de- 
lirium tremens, etc. Dose: 0.1 to 0.3 gram, best in 
extract or fluid extract. 

Bhang consists of the dried leaves and small stalks of 
Cannabis; it is an inferior article, excluded from use by 
the official description. In the Orient it is used for 
smoking, for making a sweetmeat called majoon, or an 
intoxicating drink by infusing bhang in water. 

Ghurrus is the resin which exudes spontaneously in 
minute drops from the stems, leaves and tops. It is 
gathered by rubbing the tops with leather gloves, to 
which the resin adheres and from which it is afterwards 
scraped. It is used only in the Orient, for smoking. 

Hasheesh is the Arabic name for hemp, and consists of 
the tops gathered some time before the seeds are ripe. 

Bhang and Hasheesh or a drug much crumbled or dis- 
colored, or consisting mainly of long barren stems, should 
not be employed in medicine. The bare stems, without 
leaves or tops, are sometimes sold as Cannabis Indica; 
they are probably the refuse obtained when larger quan- 
tities are garbled. To sell these as Cannabis must be 
due to ignorance or fraud. 

Cryptogamous Drugs. 

Cryptogamous plants are flowerless plants, that is, they 
have no stamens or pistils, but produce instead of seeds 
minute one-celled germinating bodies called spores, in 
which there is no embryo or rudimentary plantlet. They 
are divided into two classes, Thallogens or Thallophytes, 
and Acrogens. 

Thallogens comprise the lower orders of flowerless 
plants in which there is no marked distinction into root, 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 115 

stem and leaves, the entire thallus consisting of simple 
cell-elements without regular epidermis or fibrovascular 
bundles. The thallus may have any kind of form, leaf- 
like, stem-like, branched, flattened or gathered into com- 
pact or globular forms, or drawn out into threads, or to 
single rows of cells, or even reduced to single cells. The 
axis of growth is indefinite and indeterminate, growth 
taking place chiefly peripherically and horizontally. Of 
the subdivisions of this group of plants the algce, lichenes 
and fungi furnish drugs. 

Acrogens are the higher class of flowerless plants and 
are characterized by having a distinct and determinate axis 
of growth, with frequently distinct foliage. They are 
subdivided into two sub-classes, Vascular Acrogens, or 
Pteridophytes, which have wood-cells and vessels (flbro- 
vascular bundles), and Cellular Acrogens , or Bryophytes, 
composed of simple cellular tissue only, without wood 
or vessels. Of the vascular acrogens, lycopodiacece, equis- 
etacece and filices furnish drugs, while the cellular 
acrogens (mosses, etc.,) furnish no drugs. 

Many of the cryptogamous drugs are really sufficiently 
complete to be determined botanically, and would there- 
fore belong under Group IX, which we have just con- 
sidered; but owing to the fact that but few pharmacists 
ever study the cryptogams thoroughly, we place these 
drugs under parts of plants not complete enough for 
botanical determination, and group them as follows: — 

f r Algae Group 10 

| Thallogens . ■! Lichenes " 11 

I Fungi " 12 

rLycopodiaceae lt 13 

Acrogens. -1 Equisetaceae " 14 

iFilices " 15 



Cryptogams. - 



GROUP X. 
Alg,e. — Usually highly colored plants, aquatic or 
natives of damp rocks, walls, etc.; sometimes frondose, 
sometimes reduced to a few cells or a single cell. Fruc- 



116 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

tification monoecious or dioecious, sometimes consisting 
of special cells of two sexes, sometimes of simple mobile 
spores, sometimes of antheridia and sporangia, which are 
free or inclosed in capsules. 
Thallus filiform, much branched, horny, trans- 
lucent • Chondrus. 

Thallus with large air vesicles Fucus. 

Thallus round, long, stemlike Laminaiia. 

Mixture of several small seaweeds Corsican Moss. 




Chondrus. 

N. Irish Moss, Carrageen. — o. The drug consists (f 
the two sea-algae, Chondrus crispus and Gigartina 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 117 

mamiUosa, bleached and dried by exposure to the sun. — 
H. Atlantic ocean. Both algae are gathered on the 
coasts of Ireland and New England.— d. From five to 
fifteen cm. long, many times two-forked, the segments 
varying somewhat in width, the ends either two forked or 
emarginate; yellowish-white, horny and translucent; 
slight seaweed odor and saline mucilaginous taste. In 
Ch. c?\ the spore-vessels are imbedded in the frond, as in 
the large figure, a showing a sporocarp in section and b 
showing the small bodies contained in the sporocarp: 
G.m. has the sporocarps raised on short stalks, as in c, 
or in section in d. The dried drug swells in water, re- 
suming its original shape and is so represented in the 
drawing. Boiled with thirty times its own weight of 
water it yields a mucilage which gelatinizes on cooling 
and does not turn blue with iodine T.S. (absence of 
starch). — C. Mucilage and traces of iodine and bro- 
mine. — r. Demulcent and nutrient, but without the 
medicinal virtues usually ascribed to it. Dose: Five to 
ten grams in decoction or jelly. 

Fncns. 

N. Bladderwrack. — o. The whole sea-alga Fucus ves- 
iculosus, generally mixed with Fucus nodosus; Algce. — H. 
Atlantic ocean. Gathered on the shores, especially after 
storms, and much used as fertilizer or to make kelp, the 
ash from which iodine is prepared. — D. The figures show 
both algae, reduced to about two-thirds of the natural 
size; the broad frond with two air-vesicles side by side 
is F. ves. y and the narrow frond with single vesicles is 
F. nod. Fucus vesiculosus, which forms the bulk of the 
drug, is often up to a meter long, averaging about fifteen 
mm. in width; flattened, branched, and with a ridge or 
"midrib," the air-vesicles usually in pairs, and some of 
the frond-ends enlarged and nodulated by the organs of 
fructification; dark-brown or blackish; odor like sea- 
weeds and taste saline mucilaginous. Fucus nodosus is 
narrow, rounded, without "midrib," and with single 



118 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



air-vesicles; otherwise similar to F. ves. — c. Mucilage 
and traces of iodine and bromine; also a bitter substance 




or principle (?).— u. Alterative and tonic; supposed to 
reduce obesity. Dose : About two grams, in decoction. 



Laminaria. 



N. Sea-tangle. — o. The stem-like frond of Laminaria 
digitata; Algce. — H. Atlantic ocean; about the coasts of 
Scotland. — D. Stemlike, one-half to two meters long, 
without joints or branches, about ten to fifteen mm. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



119 




thick, somewhat flattened; elastic and horny; usually 
covered with a thin film of salt. The figure shows a small 
piece with a view of the 
section at a; when soaked 
in water it swells to about 
four times its previous 
diameter, as shown at 
b. — U. Sea-tangle tents 
and bougies are made by 
trimming down pieces of 
this plant to the desired 
sizes and diameters ; these 
are used like sponge- 
tents, to dilate sinuses, 
etc., but mainly in gynecological practice to dilate the 
mouth of the womb. 

Corsican Moss is a mixture of small seaweeds, of which 
Gigartina Helminthocorton is the principal one ; it con- 
sists of different, delicate, filiform, repeatedly forked 
and intertangled algae, varying in color from pale yellow- 
ish-brown to blue- black. Helminthocorton is pale-brown, 
filiform, horny, round, branched, and striped transversely 
and has a salty, mucilaginous taste and seaweed odor. 
It is supposed to have anthelmintic properties, but Cor- 
sican Moss is mainly used by the inhabitants of the 
countries adjoining the Mediterranean Sea for the same 
purposes as Irish or Iceland moss is used further north. 
In this country it is seldom kept in drug stores, except in 
neighborhoods containing French or Italian people. The 
drug is also known as Helminthocorton, 



GROUP XI. 

Lichenes. — These are cellular perennial acotyledons, 
growing on the ground, stones, barks, etc.; a perfeciT 
lichen usually consists of a thallus or vegetative appar- 
atus; apothecia or organs of fructification, and sperma- 
gonia or organs of fertilization. The thallus is very 



120 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



variable in shape as well as in color and texture; it 
never has stomata and it is usually dry and leathery. It 
may be filamentous, crustaceous, erect, etc., and gray, 
white, yellow, red, brown or black in color. 

It is beyond the scope of these notes to refer to the 
fantastic theory that lichens are not a distinct group of 
plants, but a colony of fungi which holds a large number 
of algae in captivity; practically, master fungi with 
slave algae. We prefer to believe that lichens are 
lichens. 
Irregularly lobed lichens, brownish -gray above 

and grayish-white below Cetraria. 

Flat lichen, brownish, with oval prominences on 

one side and corresponding depressions on . 

the other side Sticta. 



Cetraria. 

N, Iceland moss. — o. The whole lichen Cetraria Is- 
landica; Lichmes. — H. Northern Hemisphere, — D. 

Irregularly lobed, folia- 
ceous lichen, about five 
to ten cm. long, reddish 
to brownish-gray above 
and grayish-white be- 
neath, with small faintly 
marked white depressions 
and the margins of the 
lobes, which are often re- 
curved, beset with minute 
teeth; little or no odor 
and a bitterish and muci- 
laginous taste. It should 
be freed of pine leaves, 
mosses and other lichens, 
by careful garbling. 
When soaked in water, it 
becomes soft, cartilagi- 
nous and translucent, 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 121 

and when boiled with twenty-five times its own weight 
of water it yields a decoction which gelatinizes on cool- 
ing. — C. Lichenin and lichenoid, both closely analogous 
to starch. — u. Demulcent and nutrient, supposed to ex- 
ert a soothing effect on irritated bronchial membranes. 
Dose: Five to ten grams in decoction or jelly. 

Sticta. 

N. Lichen pulmonarius; Lungmoss. — o. The whole 
lichen Sticta pulmonacea; Lichenes. — H.Europe. — D. 




Grows on the stems of oaks, beeches, etc., often hanging 
down in long shreds. Broad leathery sheets, smooth on 
the upper surface with oval depressions and correspond- 
ing elevations on the other side which is rough or felted 



122 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

from thin rootlike fibers; odor slightly mouldy and 
taste bitter and mucilaginous. — C. It contains mucilag- 
inous and bitter constituents, similar to those found in 
Iceland moss, and is used for the same purposes and 
in the same manner. 

GROUP XII. 

Fungi. — Cellular acotyledons, generally parasitic on 
decaying, and sometimes on living animal and vegetable 
substances. They are sometimes perennial, more often 
ephemeral, grow best in the shade, and have no fronds, 
stomata or green parts. The organ of vegetation is 
called the mycelium; the organs of fructification are 
borne on the mycelium, and are very variable in form, 
and bear spores either on the exterior or interior. 

Fusiform, purplish-black grains Ergota. 

Irregular, brown-black masses, partly mem- - ^ 

branous, partly pulverulent Ustiiago. 

White, tough, light masses Agaric. 

Thin, brown, pliable, velvety sheets Spunk. 

Semifluid, viscid, frothy substance Yeast. 

White or yellowish grains Kefir-seed. 

Round dark brown masses, pulverulent w ithin.Puff-balis. 

Ergota. 

N. Ergot; Ergot of Rye; Secede cor- 
nutum. — o. The sclerotium of Claviceps 
purpurea (Fungi), replacing the grain of 
rye, Secale cereale ( Graminece) . — H. On 
the inflorescence of rye, in Southern 
Europe. The same fungus also grows 
on various other grasses in all parts of 
the world, but the variety growing on 
rye is the only kind officially recog- 
nized. — D. Ergot consists of grain -like 
bodies about two to five cm. long and three to four 
mm. thick; the ordinary average size of fair ergot is 
about 2.5 cm. by 3 mm. The grains are obtusely tri- 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 123 

angular, somewhat curved, marked lengthwise by a 
groove on each of the three sides, the groove on the 
inner side of the curve being most marked and often 
more or less deeply fissured ; the grains are thickest in 
the middle and taper toward the blunt ends; color 
externally dark purplish, with a slight coating of bluish 
bloom, whiter within; the grains break with an abrupt 
fracture, old and dry grains being brittle and fresh, good 
ergot somewhat elastic before breaking; odor is peculiar, 
heavy and offensive, and taste is mawkish, fatty or dis- 
agreeable ; the strong odor developed by treating ergot 
with liquor potassce is due to decomposition resulting in the 
production of trimethylamine, and when present in the 
fluid extract, renders the latter nauseating and less 
active. — c. No isolated substance constitutes the active 
principle of ergot; the ergotine of the trade is merely a 
solid extract; fixed oil, ecboline, ergotine, sclererythrin, 
cornutine, sclerotic and ergotic acids, etc., have been 
isolated, but some of these substances probably were the 
products of the processes employed and do not exist in 
the drug. — u. Excito-motor, causing contraction of the 
unstriped muscular fibers of the arterioles, sphincter 
muscles, uterus, etc. Parturient, ecbolic, emmenagogne, 
hemostatic. Dose : One to two grams up to thirty grams 
in urgent cases of hemorrhages, etc., to be given in 
powder, infusion or best in fluid extract. Cases of pois- 
oning are reported to have been produced by ergot, and 
stimulants advised to be given as antidotes; such poison- 
ing, if it does occur, is probably due to decomposition 
or rancidity of the drug or its preparation. 

The drug is liable to be attacked by mites; to prevent 
this it should be carefully dried at not above fifty degrees 
C, and not to perfect dryness, so that it may still retain 
some of the elasticity of fresh ergot, then kept in 
closed tins or bottles in which a few drops of chloroform 
have been poured; the drug should be obtained fresh each 
season, and the old thrown away. 

In the trade there are two varieties, the u German " and 



124 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



the " Spanish." They are not really different varieties, 
for ergot is often sifted or garbled after importation and 
the large, bold grains sold as " Spanish " and the smaller, 
less developed grains as " German" ergot. Spanish 
ergot, being the better article, is therefore to be pre- 
ferred for medicinal uses; or the ergot, as imported, 
garbled merely to remove foreign seeds and substances, 
should be used without separating the large from the 

small grains. 

Much broken, small, 
lean, unclean, worm- 
eaten, mouldy or too hard 
and dry ergot is totally 
unfit for use; the same is 
true of a drug having an 
ammoniacal odor, which 
is due to decomposition, 
or one having no smell at 
all. 

Ustilago. 
N. Cornsmut. — o. The 
whole plant Ustilago May- 
dis; Fungi. — H. Grows 
on all parts of Indian 
corn, Zea Mays (Gram- 
inece), but especially on 
the ear. — D. Occurs in 
irregular globose masses, 
sometimes twelve to fif- 
teen cm. thick, consisting 
of a tough external mem- 
brane, Brownish-black in 
color, and containing a 
friable pulverulent mass 
of innumerable brownish- 
black spores; odor and 
taste peculiar and unpleasant. The drug often contains 
pieces of corn-cob or of corn-shucks, and is mostly a 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 125 

fine powder. — C. No active principle ; some fixed oil, a 
substance resembling sclerotic acid, etc. — U. Same as 
ergot ; supposed by some to be preferable in midwifery 
practice, because it strengthens the "pains" without 
lengthening them ; the drug is very rarely used and while 
official in the United States Pharmacopoeia 1880, was 
dropped from the United States Pharmacopeia in 1890. 
Dose : One to five grams ; average dose about two grams, 
best in fluid extract. 

Agaricus. 

N. Agaric; Agaricus albus ; White agaric. — o. It con- 
sists of fragments of the fungus Polyporus officinalis. — 
H. Europe; grows on the trunks of old larch trees. — 1>. 
As found in the shops it is broken up into irregular 
pieces, the outer rind having been removed, and is of a 
dirty white color, light in weight, of a close, fibrous 
texture, mealy on the outer surface, easily rubbed to a 
powder through a sieve but pulverizable only with great 
difficulty in a mortar; odor resembles fresh flour, and if 
the powder is inhaled it produces violent sneezing; taste 
sweetish, afterwards acrid and bitter. Agaric is liable 
to be attacked by an insect, and worm-eaten or dense, 
hard, yellowish pieces, or pieces without bitter taste, 
should be rejected. — c. Agaricin and resins. — u. For- 
merly much used as a purgative, especially as an ingredi- 
ent of mixtures like the elixir ad long am vitam, etc. ; now 
agaricin is highly esteemed as a remedy to check night- 
sweats. Dose of agaric as a drastic purgative, two to 
four grams; in night-sweats, 0.10 to 0.20 grams. 

Spunk, or Agaricus Chirurgorum, Surgeons' Agaric, is 
obtained from the fungi Polyporus igniarius and Polyporus 
fomentarius, collected from beech-trees in Sweden, 
Bohemia, Hungary and Switzerland; those growing on 
birches or oaks yield an inferior article. The outer sur- 
face of the fungus having been removed, the interior is 
cut into slices, which are then soaked in hot weak lye, 
boiled, washed, and beaten with mallets. As found in the 



126 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

trade it occurs in light, thin, dull yellowish-brown, soft 
velvety and pliable pieces ; without odor or taste. Hard, 
uneven surgeons' agaric is useless. It is used as a 
mechanical hemostatic. 

When used as tinder it is called fungus igniarius, which 
is the same as above, but soaked in a solution of potas- 
sium nitrate and then dried. 

Yeast, or Fermentum, Brewers' Yeast, is the fungus 
Saccharomyces cerevisioe, obtained from beer and other fer- 
menting malt liquors. Only the fresh yeast is used in 
medicine ; a whitish or pale yellowish-brown viscid liquid 
or frothy semi-fluid containing innumerable oval cells, 
single and in chains. Yeast has a disagreeable, peculiar 
odor and a bitter taste. It has been used internally as 
an antiseptic and stimulant, in typhoid conditions, vari- 
ous forms of dyspepsia, in diabetes, etc., and externally 
as a stimulant dressing to indolent ulcers. Dose : Fifteen 
to fifty cm. before meals. 

Kefir is a preparation made by placing a peculiar fungus 
mass into milk which then ferments and produces a drink 
which is similar to koumyss. The fungus used for the 
purpose is obtained from the mountainous regions of the 
Caucasus and consists of white or yellowish grains which 
are called " Kefir-seeds." The exact origin and nature 
of these grains are not known, but the grains contain 
several lower organisms or fungi of which the Saccha- 
romyces cerevisioe which constitutes brewers' yeast is one. 
The Kefir-seeds constitute the drug. 

Puff-Bail, the whole fungus Boletus or Lycoperdon 
cervinus, is occasionally found in drug stores. Round 
pieces about the size of walnuts, consisting of an exter- 
nal dark-brown membrane which does not open spon- 
taneously when ripe, and filled with a dust-like powder of 
dark-brown spores. Formerly employed in nervous 
diseases; now nearly obsolete. 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 127 



GROUP XIII. 

Lycopodiace^e. — Low moss-like plants, with elongated 
and often much branched stems covered with small 
lanceolate, or subulate, rarely oblong or rounded, per- 
sistent entire leaves; the one to three-celled sporangia, 
solitary in the axils or on the upper surfaces of the 
leaves along the entire stem or in terminal catkins, open 
when ripe into two or three valves and discharge the 
numerous yellow spores. 
Light-yellow, very mobile powder Lycopodium. 

Lycopodium. 

N. Lycopodium. — o. The spores 
of Lycopodium clavatum and 
other species of club-mosses; 
Lycopodiacece. — H. Europe. — 
D. A fine, very mobile, pale 
yellowish powder, without odor 
or taste, burning with a flash 
when thrown in a flame ; swims 
on water and is not wetted by 
it, unless boiled, when it sinks in the water. Under the 
microscope it is seen to be of the shape in the upper 
figure, rounded on one side, tetrahedral on the other; in 
the sporangia several spores adhere in a globular shape 
and the angular surfaces are formed by their breaking 
apart. Adulterations with pine-pollen, which consists of 
a central body with globular lobes at the two ends, or 
with other pollens, starch, fine sand, etc., are easily 
detected with the microscope. When burned it should 
not leave more than five per cent of ash. — C. About forty- 
seven per cent fixed oil. — U. As a protective by dusting 
on excoriated or chafed surfaces; in pharmacy, as a con- 
spergative for pills, troches, plasters, suppositories, etc., 
to prevent adhesion. 




128 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



GROUP XIV. 

Equisetace^e. — Rashlike, often branching plants, 
with jointed and mostly hollow stems, rising from run- 
ning rootstocks, having denticulated sheaths at the 
joints and when fertile terminated by a conical or spike- 
like fructification composed of 
shield-shaped stalked scales bear- 
ing the spore-cases beneath; the 
spores are provided with elaters 
or processes which are coiled 
around the spores while moist and 
expand when dry, often suddenly 
so that the spore may jump some 
distance. 

Jointed, slender stems, 

about 60 cm. long. . .Equisetum. 

Eqnisetum. 

N. Horse-tail ; Scouring Rush. — 
O. The stems of Equisetum arvense 
and Equisetum hyemale; Equiseta- 
cece. — h. Europe and North Amer- 
ica. — x>. Simple, hollow, jointed, 
bright green, slender stems, about 
fifty to sixty cm. long and four to 
eight mm. thick; the illustration 
shows the end of a stem of E. hye- 
male, about natural size, and the 
fructification and spores enlarged. 
— C. A resin, which is the only 
medicinal constituent; the plant 
also contains large quantities of 
silica which renders the stem 
rough, and useful for scouring 
and polishing metallic objects. — 
U. Diuretic; in renal affections, 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 129 

dropsies, etc. Dose : Five grams, in infusion, during the 
day. 

GROUP XV. 

Filices. — Cryptogamous plants, generally perennial, 
stemless, caulescent or arborescent; fronds, borne on 
petioles called stipes, springing from the upper surface 
of the creeping rhizomes, or forming regular crowns 
which terminate erect stems; blades leafy, circinate in 
the bud, simple or pinnatifid, bearing on the under surface 
or along the margin groups (sort) of sporangia which 
break open and discharge spores, when mature. 

Large rhizome beset with the bases of stipes. Aspidium. 
Frond of fern with triangular leaflets and 

thin glossy brown stipes Adiantum. 

Hard, dark-brown rhizome beset with short 

remnants of stipes Poiypodium. 

Fine, silky, glossy hairs Penghawar. 

Aspidium. 




N. Aspidium; Filix mas; Malefern.— o. The rhizome 
of Dryopteris Filix-mas and of Dryopteris marginalia; 
Filices. — H. Northern temperate zone. — D. Malefern is a 
thick fleshy rhizome to which a number of the frond-bases 
or stipes remain attached, as shown in the illustration. 
It is cylindrical, varying in length from ten to thirty cm. 
and in thickness about thirty to fifty mm. ; but in the 
drug it is often cut into several pieces, and sometimes 

9 



130 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

split longitudinally. The transverse section of the 
rhizome without the stipes is from twelve to twenty- 
five mm. thick, as is shown in the middle figure, and 
shows about six to ten fibrovascular bundles in an 
interrupted circle, outside of which a few scattered 
bundles ate also found. In the trade this drug occurs 
frequently in small pieces, the stipes being broken 
from the rhizome and the latter broken into short pieces; 




such a frond-base is about forty to fifty mm. long and 
six to ten mm. thick, as shown in the left-hand figure, 
but sometimes these fronds are peeled as illustrated in 
the right-hand figure. The unpeeled rhizome and fronds 
are covered with a brown, scaly, glossy epidermis, but 
the interiors of both rhizomes and stipes are grass-green 
when fresh, and they should be rejected if they have 
turned brown from age; when about to use the drug 
all the brown and chaffy parts must be cut away and only 
the green parts used. Malefern consists mainly of par- 
enchyma cells, with occasional short-stalked oil-glands 
projecting from the walls of the cells into the inter- 
cellular spaces, and the bundles consist mainly of scalari- 
form vessels or ducts. The odor is disagreeable, the 
taste sweetish, astringent, nauseous and acrid. — c. Vola- 
tile oil, fixed oil, resin, etc., which are contained in the 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 131 

oleo-resin. — U. TsBnicide. Dose of the oleo-resin : 0.5 
to 1 gram. 

The rhizomes of several other ferns which are used as 
substitutes or adulterations, may be known by the much 
smaller diameter of the rhizome proper, even when the 
attached stipes make them appear as thick as the genuine 
malefern. 

Adiantum. 




N. Maidenhair fern.— o. The fronds of Adiantum Cap- 
illus Veneris and Adiantum pedatum; Filices.—H.. The 
first named is a native of Europe, the last named is indig- 



132 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

enous. — D. The drug consists of the fronds of these ferns 
with the leaflets, as seen in natural size in the figure ; the 
edges of the leaflets are recurved, and the sporangia are 
attached under this edge, as shown at a where the leaflet 
is straightened out, and at b where it is shojvn in section. 
The leaflets are green while the stipes or stalks are glossy 
dark-brown and filamentous, wherefore they give the 
name of " maiden-hair " (German: Frauenhaar, Venus- 
haar) to the drug. The odor is slightly aromatic and the 
taste mucilaginous, sweetish-bitter and astringent. — c. 
Mucilage, tannin and bitter principle. — U. Demulcent 
and expectorant. Dose : Three to five grams in infusion 
or syrup. 

Polypodium, 

N. Polypo- 
dium; Rock- 
brake; Brake - 
root. — o. The 
rhizome of 
Poly podium vulgare; Filices. H. Europe and America. — 
jd. The illustration shows the shape well. The somewhat 
contorted rhizome is of the thickness of a large quill 
and is beset with rather scattered short tubercles or 
stipe-remains; externally reddish-brown and internally 
green when fresh and cinnamon-colored when old. On 
section about ten small fibro-vascular bundles are seen 
arranged in a loose circle, the predominant tissue being 
an amylaceous parenchyma. The taste is at first sweet, 
afterwards disagreeably acrid and bitter; odor like ran- 
cid oil. — C. Not analyzed. — u. Expectorant in asthma 
and catarrh; also said to be purgative and anthelmintic. 
Dose: One to five grams in infusion or syrup. 

Pengtaawar. 

N. Penghawar-Djambi; Paku-Kidang; Pulu; Cibo- 
tium. — o. The chaffy hairs of several tree-ferns, varie- 
ties of Cibotium, especially C.Baromez and C . djambianum ; 
Filices; also of some other ferns. — H. Java, Sumatra and 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 133 

other tropical islands and countries.— d. Formerly the 
stipes, beset with hairs, came into trade, but now only 
the hairs are used. The drug consists of fine silky, some- 
what curly hairs, about one and one-half to three cm. 
in length, the individual cells or joints flattened and 
often placed cross-wise to each other owing to torsion 
in the partition-walls, thus also producing the curling. 
These hairs have been used to make pillows and mat- 
tresses, but in medical practice they are employed as a 
powerful local haemostatic and styptic drug. 

Structure of Roots and Stems. 

Since a large number of drugs are roots, rhizomes, 
stems or parts of stems, as woods, barks, etc., it is nec- 
essary that we study the minute structure of the various 
modifications of the descending and ascending axes of 
plants. 

In the lower orders of cryptogams, which we have just 
considered, there is little or no cell differentiation and 
these thallogens are without root, stem and leaf struc- 
ture; in the higher cryptogams, the acrogens, such 
structures are apparent, but in the cellular acrogens 
they are still made up of simple cell-elements only, while 
in the vascular acrogens cell-differentiation into various 
tissues takes place. 

Comparatively few plants are unicellular, and these 
only of the lowest orders of cryptogams, the thallogens; 
but even most of the thallogens, and all plants higher 
than these, are made up of many or innumerable cells 
and in the vascular acrogens and the phanerogams these 
cells are differentiated by changes in their shapes and in 
their cell-walls, as already explained in the remarks de- 
voted to the consideration of cell-structure. These 
various cells unite to form " tissues. " 

A tissue may be defined as an aggregation of many 
similar cells united to perform a common function, but 
the word ought not to be misunderstood to mean plant- 
organs which also may have definite functions to per- 



134 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

form, but may be composed of several tissues; thus, 
when we speak of seeds, roots, etc., as belonging to the 
te storing system of tissue," it does not mean that these 
organs are single tissues but that they are made up of 
systems of different tissues which together form the 
organs that act as food reservoirs. 

We have already considered the nature of parenchyma 
and prosenchyma cells, the characteristics of which must 
be firmly fixed in the mind; aggregations of parenchyma 
cells form parenchymatous tissue or parenchyma y while 
aggregations of prosenchyma cells constitute prosenchy- 
matous tissue or prosenchyma. Similarly, aggregations 
of collenchyma or sclerenchyma cells form collenchyma 
or sclerenchyma respectively, these names referring to 
the nature of the cell-walls, while the words parenchyma 
and prosenchyma refer to the shapes of the cells. In 
a general way all cells and tissues are either parenchy- 
matous or prosenchymatous, although in some of the 
thallogens the thallus consists of felted threads {hyphce), 
which do not strictly belong to either of these groups 
but which form a distinct and peculiar kind of tissue 
{pseudo-parenchyma) , which is, however, of minor interest 
to the pharmacognocist. 

In parenchyma the cells abut against each other by 
broad surfaces, and as the ends of the cells are not inter- 
laced and the cell-walls are usually soft, this tissue 
is easily torn or broken; the cells in parenchyma are 
often so loosely aggregated that the cell-walls are not 
compressed and many of the cells retain a spherical 
form with many minute intercellular spaces, as in the 
pulpy part of some fruits, but if such cells are 
brought into complete contact with the adjacent 
cells by pressure during growth they will become 
more or less regularly dodecahedral or twelve- 
sided. In rapidly growing parts in which the growth 
is more rapid in one .direction, as for instance, 
in the longitudinal direction of many roots and stems, 
the individual cells also may be elongated in the direc- 





NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 135 

tion of most rapid growth, becoming cylindrical if lateral 
pressure is small, as in sarsapariila, when small tri- 
angular or irregular intercellular 
spaces will be seen on transverse 
section, or these spaces may be 
obliterated by lateral pressure 
when the cells assume prismatic 
shapes, the hexagonally prismatic 
form being most common, as seen 
in the transverse section of the 
parenchyma of couch-grass, dandelion root, etc. 

As so large a portion of all pith 
and other fundamental paren- 
chyma tissue consists of cells 
which are compressed so as to 
obliterate the small intercellular 
spaces, so that the polyhedral 
forms preponderate, it is advis- 
able to make a simple experiment to show the shapes of 
these cells. Fill a pint or quart bottle completely with 
any fluid that will readily foam, as for instance with an 
infusion of quillaja, or a solution of soap in water to 
which a little glycerin is added, and then empty it by 
turning it upside down so that the fluid gurgles as it 
runs out and the air bubbles rise up through it ; a narrow 
necked bottle is best for the experiment, and when the 
liquid has all run out the bottle will be filled with a foam 
consisting of bubbles, which, by mutual pressure, will 
assume the dodecahedral or polyhedral form of the 
parenchyma cells we are considering, especially in the 
interior of the bottle, and it is instructive to watch the 
various shapes assumed by the adjacent bubbles, as one 
afUr another of these bubbles burst and alter the pres- 
sure. The bubbles adjacent to the glass show the shapes 
of sections of these cells. 

Larger intercellular spaces than those just mentioned 
may be seen in calamus in which the cells are arranged 
as shown in the drawing, the shaded cells containing 



136 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 




starch, the uodotted contain- 
ing oleo-resin; examples of 
similar intercellular spaces 
may be found in most aquatic 
plants, as in the stems and 
leaf-stalks of calla, water- 
lilies, etc., and drugs having 
such structure usually break 
with a corky or spongy 
fracture. In aquatic plants 
such large intercellular spaces 
are filled with air, which is 
also often the case in ter- 
restrial plants having such spaces, but in the latter kind 
of plants these spaces sometimes contain 
oil or latex (milk- juice) when, if they are 
nearly spherical, they are called " glands " 
(as in orange and lemon peels, etc.), while 
if they are long or tube-like, they are called 
'' ducts; " but it must be remembered that 
such glands and ducts may also be formed 
by the absorption of cell-partitions, in 
which case they are not intercellular spaces 
but true ducts. Whatever the nature or 
method of formation of such oil, resin, or 
latex ducts or spaces may be, the presence 
or absence of such ducts, spaces, or 
even large special cells, serves as a basis 
for group-divisions, as in groups 18, 19, 20, 
21, 23 and 24, while in any case, whether 
filled with air or any thing else, they 
usually impart a characteristic appear- 
ance to the section and are therefore fre- 
quently of diagnostic value. 

In prosenchyma the ends of the long 
cells, which are often hardened by a de- 
posit of lignin or sclerogen, are interlaced 
or spliced, as in the drawing of wood-cells 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 137 

from sassafras root, so that this tissue is not readily 
torn apart or broken and it serves for mechanical support 
and strength. Wood-cells, bast-cell« and most of the 
ducts belong to this system of tissues, and prosenchyma 
is found mainly in the fibro- vascular bundles. 

Parts of plants which consist mainly of parenchyma 
are called " fleshy," while those containing mainly lig- 
nifled prosenchyma are " woody." 

When we break the base of the petiole of a plantain 
leaf (from the common plantain weed, Plantago major) 
we find that while we can readily break through most of 
the leaf-stalk, the broken ends are held together by a 
number of threads in the interior of the stalk; and if we 
pull the lower end with the threads towards the apex 
along the under side of the leaf, we can pull out these 
threads from the parallel veins of the leaf. These thread- 
like strands are the fibro -vascular bundles, consisting of 
fibers or prosenchyma cells and vessels, as the name 
implies. 

It is rarely the case that these fibro-vascuiar bundles 
can be pulled out as threads, for in most plants they are 
intimately grown together with or adherent to the sur- 
rounding tissues, so that we must make sections of the 
plant-organ which contains them to trace them and to 
study their characteristics. These sections can be made 
in four different directions, of which two at least are 
essential to a correct understanding of stem-structure; 
a third is often of value but the fourth is seldom required. 

The figure shows in what direction these sections are 
to be made; the transverse section (tr.) is at right angles 
across the axis of growth, and is by far the most useful 
and instructive; the radial section (i\) is often also 
called the longitudinal section and it passes along the 
axis of growth and along the line of a radius or a line 
from the center to the circumference, and it is next to 
the transverse section in importance, as it shows the 
nature of the elements of the fibro-vascular bundles, 
the ducts, wood-fibers, etc. ; the tangential section {tang.) 



138 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



also passes along the axis of growth, but at right angles 
across a radius, and it is useful mainly for the study 
of the medullary rays ; finally, we 
may have occasion to make an o&- 
lique section (o.) although but little 
is to be learned from it and it is 
very rarely intentionally made, but 
quite frequently accidentally made 
of fibro- vascular bundles, espe- 
cially in monocotyls, when we 
make sections just below the point 
where one of the bundles is bent 
outwards to go to a leaf or rootlet, 
and which then appears as an oval 
section of a bundle differing in ap- 
pearance from both the transverse 
and longitudinal sections of the 
same kind of bundle. 

In a transverse section of the 
stem or root of a vascular crypto- 
gam or of a phanerogam it will 
be seen that the outer layer or 
layers of cells differ from the cells within. Perhaps 
the first and simplest change or differentiation of 
cells is the formation of an epidermis or cuticle, and 
even in thallogens in which there is no true cell-differ- 
entiation the outer cells are usually smaller and with 
thicker walls although otherwise like the larger interior 
cells. In leaves, young twigs, flowers, fruits, etc., the 
outer layer of cells have their outer cell -wall thickened 
by a deposit of cutin, thus forming a true cuticle or 
epidermis, while in older stems, roots, etc., cork or suber 
is formed under the epidermis which finally disappears 
entirely, so thatiu older parts cork then forms the outer- 
most layer. Cutin is chemically identical with cork but 
differs in being deposited in the cell-walls of the epider- 
mal layer only, while cork is deposited in layers which 
are sometimes many hundreds of cells thick. 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



139 



If we make a transverse section from the young stalk 
of Indian corn (Zea Mays) which is easily obtained by 
planting a few grains of corn and then taking the stalk for 
examination when it is of about the thickness of a lead 
pencil, we will see that it appears circular, or nearly so, 
and is surrounded by the epidermis and that the interior 
consists mainly of parenchyma tissue with irregularly 
scattered circular clusters of cells appearing like dots, 
which latter are the sections of the fibro-vascular bundles, 




as diagrammatically represented in the lef i-haud figure. 
These dots are distributed throughout the entire thickness 
of the stem, as is seen in the section, but so that the outer 
dots are somewhat smaller than those nearer the center of 
the section. This section show3 the most common struc- 
ture of monocotyls, and the structure is called endogenous 
(or inward growing) because as the plant becomes older it 
increases in thickness by a formation of new fibro-vascular 
bundles among and between the others, and as these are 
formed when the plant is larger the bundles also become 
larger, so that the newer and larger bundles are found 
mainly in the interior of the plant. In the right-hand figure 
we see a simple modification of this structure, for a layer 
of cells forming in the section a ring concentric with and 
some distance within the cuticle separates the parenchyma 
int) two portions, and this ring of cells which, in the 
stem, forms a cylinder or tube, is called the nucleus 
sheath; within this sheath the fibro-vascular bundles are 



140 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



disposed, just as in the left-hand figure they are disposed 
throughout the entire thickness of the stem. 

This type of 
structure, dia- 
gramm a t i c a 1 1 y 
shown in the 
right-hand figure, 
can be seen in 
orris root. In 
a drug of this 
kind the part out- 
side of the nu- 
cleus sheath is 
sometimes spok- 
en of as " bark " 
or " cortex," but 
this is wrong, be- 
cause monocotyls 
have no bark. 

In monocotyls 
the cells which 
do not belong to 
the cuticle, nu- 
cleus sheath or 
the fibro-vascular 
bundles, belong to 
the parenchyma, 
which is called 
the fundamental 
tissue. 

Many students 

seem to fail to 
associate the 
drawings of 
transverse sec- 
tions with the 
idea of contin- 
uity throughout 
Suppose that some 




the length of the axis of the plant. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



141 



experimenter like Roentgen would discover a new kind 
of X-rays which would render all the parenchyma of the 
fundamental tissue of plants transparent or invisible 
while the cuticle or outer bark and fibro-vascular bundles 
remained visible as concrete objects, a monocotyledon- 
ous stem, as that of Indian corn, would then appear 
like a tube within which a number of threads or thin rods 
were arranged lengthwise, the space betwee 1 being filled 
with the transparent medium, the fundamental tissue. 
Since we have no such convenient X-rays, let us substi- 
tute our imagination and fancy the f unclamen- al tissue to 
be invisible; let us imagine a portion of the cuticle on the 
side nearest us to have been cut away so that we can 
look into the inside of the stem, and on looking through a 
suitable magnifying lens we would see the structures as 
shown in the lower part of the figure. If we cut across 
such a structure the appearance of the surface would be 
as is shown in the map of the section projected above the 
stem, in the circle in the upper part of the figure. If we 
were to cub off a thin slice this would be a transverse 
section and such a sec- 
tion is therefore prac- 
tically a map showing 
the manner of distrib- 
ution of the different 
tissues in the stem; 
but the relation of this 
transverse section (or 
map) to the real con- 
tinuity of the tissues 
themselves, as shown 
in the figure, should 
always be mentally as- 
sociated with the ex- 
amination of every 
section. 

The fibro-vascular 
bundles do not always 




142 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



run so parallel to each other in monocotyls, but only in 
long internodes devoid of branches or rootlets. When 
rootlets are attached along the entire length of a rhizome, 
for instance, or when growth in length is accomplished 
by the continual and successive formation of new leaves 
at the apex, as in palms, some of the fibro-vascular 
bundles from the interior of the plant are bent outwards 
to enter these rootlets or leaves, as is diagrammatically 
represented in the accompanying drawing of a longitud- 
inal section of a palm stem. 

Drugs are recognized by the manner of the distribution 
and relation of the bundles to each other and to the other 
tissues rather than by the cellular elements of the bundles 
themselves, just as we recognize a friend by the relation 
of eyes, nose and mouth to each other and to the rest of 
the face, rather than by a conscious recognition of the 
exact color of eyes or hair, or by an observance of any 
minute peculiarities of the several features. 

Besides the two methods of arrangement of stems with 
and without a nucleus sheath, as already figured, there 
are several other types of endogenous arrangement, 





which are of importance. One of these types may be 
seen in sarsaparilla, the peculiarity of which is that all 
the fibro-vascular bundles are closely aggregated just 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



143 



within the nucleus sheath, leaving a large pith-like paren- 
chyma in the interior, as in the left-hand figure; the 
other type may be seen in calamus, galanga, ginger, etc., 
where a nucleus sheath is present, but the bundles are 
scattered both within and without this sheath, as in the 
right-hand figure. In some cases, as in the sarsaparillas, 
the cells of the nucleus sheath are characteristic of 
certain varieties, so that they may be of diagnostic 
value. 

Still other arrangements are found in the hollow stems 
of monocotyls, as in the culms of grasses, etc. Cut a 
section of straw and the bundles are found arranged 





within the cuticle as in the left-hand figure, while in the 
rhizome of couch-grass we find a nucleus sheath and 
the bundles within this, as in the right-hand figure, while 
in both we see the large central cavity. 

These figures, it should be remembered, illustrate dia- 
grammatically the types of arrangement and not sections of 
individual drugs which may, and generally do, vary from 
the circular form, being quite frequently flattened or 
oval in section. We will postpone a consideration of 
the nature of the fibro-vascular bundles of monocotyls 
until we have considered the structure of dicotyls and 
polycotyls (conifers), the exogenous structure. 




144 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

To understand the structure of exogenous stems, let 
us examine the following three drawings, after Sachs. 
If we make a section at the extreme tip of the growing 
radicle or root of the castor oil 
plant (Ricinus communis) we would 
find only one kind of parenchyma 
cells, the fundamental tissue, but a 
section from near the end of this 
radicle soon after it makes its ap- 
pearance beyond the seedcoats shows 
a circle of cells somewhat different 
from the cells of the fundamental 
tissue, as indicated by the shaded circle marked x in the 
drawing; this layer of cells is called meristem or primary 
meristem, and from it the fibro-vascular bundles are pro- 
duced. 

The fundamental tissue within this circle forms the 
medulla or pith (m), while the fundamental tissue with- 
out this circle forms the middle bark (r) , the epidermis, 
or in older roots and stems the cork, forming the outer 
bark. It will be noticed that at some points the meris- 
tem layer is thicker than at others, and a section made 
from a root which is a little older, when the radicle has 

reached a length of about 
two cm. below the cotyle- 
dons, shows that each of 
the four thicker portions of 
meristem has developed 
into two clusters of cells 
(fv) which are cross-sec- 
tions of fibro-vascular 
bundles, thus making 
a circle of eight fibro- 
vascular bundles (/v) 
shown in the shaded 
part of the drawing, which are separated from each 
other by cells which resemble those of the pith (m) 
and the middle bark and which are the medullary rays 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



145 




Qst). The pith or medulla, the middle bark and the 
medullary rays together are all fundamental tissue. In 
the next draw- 
ing we see the 
development of 
the fibro-vascu- 
lar bundles still 
farther advanc- 
ed; fv shows 
the bundles, m 
is the pith from 
which the me- 
dullary rays ra- 
diate, r is the 
middle bark, but 
this drawing 
shows in addi- 
tion some bands 
of meristem crossing the meduhary lays, at cb, con- 
necting the fibro-va-cular bundles. Such connecting 
bands when present are called secondary meristem % 
and it will be noticed that they are continuous 
with similarly shaded parts passing through the 
fibro-vascular bundles, and that" these fibro-vascular 
bundles are arranged in a circle with the larger por- 
tion of each bundle within the meristem layer, and 
a smaller portion without the meristem layer, as is 
shown by the different shading of these parts in the last 
drawing. 

To examine the nature of these fibro-vascular bundles 
we may make a transverse section of the rhizome of 
black cohosh {Cimicifuga) in which we find a large num- 
ber of bundles of various sizes. Choosing one of the 
larger ones for examination we see that it is made up of 
three parts, an outer part called bast or phloem {a), an 
inner part called wood or xylem (c) and between them a 
part composed of very soft parenchyma cells constituting 
10 



146 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



the cambium (b) ; surrounding the whole bundle we see 
the parenchyma cells of the fundamental tissue (d). 

As the bundle 
grows the cam- 
bium cells form 
new wood on 
the inner side 
and new bast on 
the outer side. 
The wood (xy- 
lem) consists 
mainly of pro- 
senchymatous 
woodcells, with 
cell-walls which 
have become 
hard by a de- 
posit of lignin, 
together with 
(usually) ducts 
and (some- 
times) wood- 
parenchyma, the 
latter being 
cells of paren- 
chyma shape? 
but with thick, 
ened walls. The 
bast (phloem) consists mainly of some soft-walled 
parenchyma cells, some sieve-ducts and, in many plants, 
thickened prosenchyma bast-cells, which latter aid in 
giving strength to the stem or root. 

The relation of the fibro-vascular bundles to each other 
and to the other tissues is seen in this diagram of the 
structure of yellow par ilia (Menispermum Canadense) ; as 
is always the case in dicotyledonous or exogenous 
growth, the fibro-vascular bundles are arranged in a circle ; 
the central portion is the pith from which radiate the 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



147 



medullary rays (a) which separate the bundles from each 
other and connect the pith with the middle bark (/ ) ; the 
xylem or inner portion of the buudles (c) is separated 
from the phloem or outer portion (e) by the cambium (d) ; 
the cambium of the various bundles is conuected by bands 
of secondary meristem (p) , the two together forming the 




cambium zone. In woody plants all that lies within this 
cambium zone is called xoood or wood- cylinder and all 
without this zone is called bark. The bark will be seen 
to be made up of three layers; the outer bark (A), con- 
sists of epidermis in young stems or roots and of cork in 
older structures; if the outer edges of all the bast por- 
tions of the fibro-vascular bundles are united by aline this 



148 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



line will mark the division between the middle bark (/) 
which consists of parenchyma or fundamental tissue, and 

the inner bark, 
which consists of 
alternate portions 
of bast (e) and 
the continuation 
of the medullary 
r ays (g). It will 
be seen that bark 
cannot exist in an 
endogenous stem 
or root, because 
there is no cam- 
bium zone that 
separates the 
wood from the 
bast; in fact, the 
bundles are not 
divided into these 
three parts as 
here shown in 
dicotyledonous 
structure. 

Let us now sup- 
pose in regard to 
this exogenous 
structure^ as we 
did in regard to 
the endogenous 
stem, that an X- 
ray might be 
found that would 
render ail funda- 
mental tissue in 
plants transpar- 
ent or invisible 
while it left the 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



149 



fibro-vascular bundles and outer bark opaque and vis- 
ible; removing a portion of the latter, and examining 
the interior we would see that the structure is as in this 
figure, all the fibro-vascular bundles in a circle, with a 
pith space in the interior, medullary rays between and 
middle bark around them, the last three parts being 
transparent or invisible under the influence of our 
imaginary X-ray, but the space which they should oc- 
cupy being plainly shown. Here also the projection of 
the section into the circle above shows the relation of 
such a section or map to the continuity of the tissues 
within the stem, and shows how such a transverse sec- 
tion, or a drawing of one, constitutes in reality merely a 
map, with which the idea of length or continuity must 
always be mentally associated 

The fibro-vascular bundles are represented as being 
separate throughout the length of the stem, but this is 
the case only in one type of fleshy dicotyledonous stems, 
rhizomes, roots, etc., in which the fundamental paren- 





chyma tisbue preponderates and the fibro-vascular 
bundles are few and arranged in a loose circle, as in the 
left-hand figure. Another type of fleshy root or stem is 
when the bundles form a central wood-cylinder as in the 
right-hand figure, but are not much lignified; the first 



150 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 




plan is seen in master- 
wort and podophyl- 
lum, and the second 
plan is seen in dande - 
lion. A modification 
of the latter plan is 
seen in senega, as* in 
these figures, where 
the wood-cylinder is not continuous, but is irregularly 
interrupted by wide medullary rays. 

But the most characteristic 
exogenous structure is not seen 
in the fieshy plant axes, but in 
the woody roots and stems, in 
which there is but little funda- 
mental parenchyma, the bun- 
dles are close together, and 
interwoven, and the woodcells 
are strongly lignifitd and 
therefore tough. In such a 
stem the fibro-vascular bun- 
dles are separated only for 
short distances by the medul- 
lary rays and are united with 
each other sideways, with their 
prosenchyma cells interlacing. 
In some woods, as in white 
pine, this interlacing is not 
very intricate and this wood 
splits easily along the grajn, 
but in other woods, as in lignum vitae, this interlacing is 
so intricate that even the hard usage given to tenpins 
and tenpin balls does not split the wood. The drawing 
represents diagrammatically a young twig of maple with 
the bark and cambium removed. It is readily seen that 
while a section a little farther up or down the stem will 
not show us the same bundles and the same medullary 
rays, yet one section must be practically identical with 





NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 151 

every other section, so that a drawing of a section will 
serve as a map of the structure equally as well as in the 
other examples illustrated, only with the additional 
proviso that we must bear in mind this joining of the 
bundles to form a solid and connected wood cylinder. 

The pith consists of parenchyma 
and is often continuous throughout 
the length of the stem; in some cases, 
however, it is interrupted by wood, 
the fibro-vascular bundles anastomos- 
ing at the nodes, as for instance in the 
grape-vine, of which a longitudinal 
section is shown, and in which it is 
supposed that the fibro-vascular bun- 
dles from the side of the stem on 
which a leaf is placed by this means 
convey nourishment direct to the 
other side, on which a bunch of fruit is growing. Some- 
times the pith is present in young stems but ceases to 
grow as the stem enlarges so that the mature stem 
becomes hollow with only shreds of pith adhering to the 
inner surface of the wood-cylinder, as in bittersweet. To 
the pharmacognocist it is of interest to know that stems 
contain more pith than the roots of the same plants, 
the roots often containing little or no pith when the 
stem contains a thick pith; this is often of diagnostic 
value in recognizing stems which have been added 
with fraudulent intent to drugs which should con- 
sist of roots only, as in belladonna root, bitter root, 
etc. 

The medullary rays are seen as radiating lines in the 
transverse section, and in fleshy stems or roots they may 
extend for some distance up and down the stem, but in 
woody stems or roots, as we have just learned, they are 
of short length and often only one or a few cells in thick- 
ness. If we make a radial section in such a manner as 
to cut through a medullary ray we will see that it con- 
sists of cells stretched radially across the fibro-vascular 



152 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 




m b. 



p> 

bundles and uniting the pith (p.) with the middle bark 
(m. &.), as is shown in the drawing. 
Here we see a transverse section of a young rose-twig 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 153 

with the large-celled pith in the center, three medullary 
rays separating the four flbro-vascular bundles shown, 
and the whole surrounded by the middle bark and 
epidermis. The three parts of the flbro-vascular bundles, 
xylem, cambium and phloem are plainly seen, and in the 
phloem or bast of the second bundle from the right a 
notch is seen, indicating the beginning of a division into 
two bundles as will be more fully illustrated presently. 




If we examine a somewhat older twig from the same 
rose-bush we will find the following to have taken 
place during growth : The cells of cambium next to the 
xylem produced new wood-cells, thus adding much to 
the radial dimensions of the fibro-vascular bundles, so 
that the latter became larger, and the wood became thicker 
and stronger. Meanwhile, also, more bast is produced 
from the cambium, but much more slowly than the wood. 
This change of cambium into wood and bast continues 



154 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



as long as the leaves assimilate food, or, in other words, 
as long as the vegetative process keeps up, which varies 
with the plants, and depends on the seasons in their 
habitat, being uninterrupted in many tropical and sub- 
tropical regions where trees are found in which this 
process has probably gone on without intermission from 
a time previous to the building of the Egyptian pyramids, 
while in subarctic regions the process may be limited to 
a few weeks duration; in many plants the process 
extends only through a single season. 

When the plant grows during a part of the year only, 
as in the perennial woody plants of the temperate zones, 




growth is suspended during wiater, although roots may 
form below the frost-line even in winter, as in trees 
transplanted in the fall of the year, for which reason fall 
transplanting is usually more successful than spring 
transplanting, the plant becoming in a degree established 
before overground vegetation starts up. In spring the 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 155 

earliest signs of returning activity of vegetation is mani- 
fested by a great turgescence of the cambium and of the 
adjacent cells, to such an extent, that, if wounded, 
enormous quantities of sap may flow out, as seen in tap- 
ping sugar maples for their sap, or in the " bleeding" of 
vines when these are trimmed too late. Then the buds 
expand, the leaves unfold, and the life of the plant 
actively goes on. The inner layer of cambium produces 
large ducts and large wood-cells, and the new wood is 
added in a ring around the wood of the previous season's 
growth ; the process continues until, as the season goes 
on, the leaves harden, the stomata may be clogged with 
dust, the soil becomes parched by the heat of summer, 
and cell-formation gradually becomes slower and the 
cells smaller, while ducts may entirely cease to be 
formed, until, when the leaves have fallen, the year's 
work is completed and another ring of wood has been 
added around the former wood-cylinder, as is shown in 
the two rings of a section of a two years old rose-twig. 




These rings are generally easily distinguished, because 
in the earlier part of the season, while growth is very 



156 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



active, a larger number of ducts and larger wood-cells 
are formed, while towards fall the ducts are either 
smaller or entirely wanting and the wood-cells also 
become smaller, so that the inner portion of each ring 
is more porous than the outer portion, as is shown in 
this section of the wood of sassafras root; even in 
woods which have no ducts the difference in the sizes 
of the wood-cells makes the rings quite distinct. 

In perennial stems a new ring of wood is thus added 
each year, and we call these rings annual rings or layers 

and as the 
newer rings 
are formed on 
the outside 
of the older 
rings, growth 
in thickness 
takes place by 
the addition 
of new wood 
around the 
old, wherefore 
this is called 
exogenous (or 
outward grow- 
ing) struc- 
ture. By counting these rings from the pith 
outward, we can ascertain the age of the stem, as in 
the drawing, where we see segments of three annual 
rings between the two asterisks, the upper of which 
marks the cambium zone or margin between wood and 
bark, while the lower marks the boundary between the 
pith and wood. The three medullary rays crossing the 
ring of the first year are seen to continue outward to the 
middle bark; if no new medullary rays were formed it is 
evident that the fibro-vascular bundles would become 
very wide in a few years, but when they have attained 
a certain width, the bast divides, as seen in the first 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



157 



section shown of the rose-twig, and after that this notch 
continues outward 1 as a new medullary ray, so that the 
fibro-vascular bundles are divided year after year and the 
same tangential dimensions of the bundles are main- 
tained. In the last drawing, for instance, eleven rays 
cross the segment of the third year's ring corresponding 
to the segment of the first year's growth with only three 
rays; and the division is seen to have occurred in early 
spring at the commencement of each year's growth, and 
after new rays are started they continue outward through 
the successive layers, so that while we can trace an 
original ray from the pith to the middle bark, we cannot 
trace back all rays from the bark to the pith. 




In some cases the fibro-vascuiar bundles divide during 
the year's growth, as seen in the section of a rootlet 
of black cohosh, here shown. 



158 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Of course it will be understood that annual rings are 
not found in fleshy or annual dicotyls, nor in the annual 
stems of perennial plants, but only in perennial woody 
stems and roots. 

In tropical climates vegetation continues more' or less 
actively throughout the year and in many plants the 

rings are not con- 
centrically con- 
tinuous; they are 
then called spuri- 
ous rings, as in 
falfce pareira 
brava, here illus- 
trated, in which 
some layers only 
go part of the way 
around, while, 
in this particular 
section, one layer 
is in the form of 
a spiral which 
commences at sp. and makes three turns. v 

In vascular aero- 
gens we also find 
fibro-vascular bun- 
dles, usually ar- 
ranged in circles, 
and often of pecu- 
liar shapes on trans- 
verse sections as 
seen in this drawing 
of a segment of a 
stem of tree fern; 
the fibro-vascular 
bundles of ferns 
consist almost alto- 
gether of scalari- 
form ducts. 
When the stipes or 





NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 159 

bases of fronds are broken from the stem or rhizome of 
a fern, they often leave peculiar reticulated markings on 
the outside of the stem. This acrogenous structure is 
of little importance to the pharmacognocist, as only two 
drugs of this kind are used, of which only one, malefern, 
is important. 

We are now prepared to understand one more feature 
concerning fibro-vascular bundles, namely, the difference 
between open and closed bundles. In exogenous struc- 
ture, as we have just learned, a bundle may continue 
to grow by additional development of wood from the 
cambium for an indefinite number of years, and such a 
bundle is said to be " open; " in endogenous structure, 
however, the cambium is finally all changed to wood, 
ducts or wood parenchyma and the growth of the bundle 
ceases, and such bundles are said to be " closed," 

To distinguish the cam- 
bium of the closed bundle 
from that of the open bun- 
dle, the former is sometimes 
called " procambium." The 
accompanying drawing 
shows a section of the fibro- 
vascular bundle of ginger. 

The transition from the 
young and still growing fibro- 
vascular bundles of a monocotyledonous stem to the 
fully formed and closed bundles, may be studied in a 
transverse section of bamboo cane, of which a photomi- 
crograph follows, in which the interior bundles are seen 
to have many soft- walled cell3, while those of the exter- 
ior portions are all or nearly all lignified; as the cut is 
shown, the upper part is the cuticle and the lower part 
shows some of the interior bundles. The bundles of the 
interior are not yet closed, but in the outer bundles cell- 
formation and cell-activity have ceased, and the latter 
are therefore "closed," and between these two extremes 
there are all degrees of gradation between the youngest 




160 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



bundles still nearly all procambium, and the oldest in 
which procambium has been entirely replaced by formed 
material. 

<sr The stu- 

dent will 
find excel- 
lent mate- 
rial for the 
study of 
closed fi- 
bro- vascu- 
lar bundles 
in many of 
the drugs 
of monoco- 
tyledonous 
origin, and 
especially 
, in the stem 
of Mexican 
sarsaparil- 
la, and it 
is recom- 
mended 
that sec- 
tions of as 
many as 
possible of 
these drugs 
be made. 

It. is un- 
necessary 
to dwell on 
- 1 any farther 
details in regard to the closed bundles of monocotyls, for 
ordinarily they may be considered as mere dots in the sec- 
tion, but, of course, if the bundles present some peculiarity 
that is uniformly alike and characteristic, such bundles 
may be of diagnostic value. In a variety of rush (Juncus 





NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 161 

effusus), for instance, one bundle is similar to every 
other bundle, each having 
the same number of ducts 
and large intercellular 
spaces, regularly arranged 
as shown in this drawing, 
so that a fragment of a 
section containing even a 
single bundle might enable 
one to recognize the identity 
or origin of the specimen. 
Closed flbro-vascular bun- 
dles are also found in acro- 
gens and in some annual 
dicotyls, as well as in the skeletons of the leaves of both 
dicotyls and monocotyls. 

ROOTS. 

In pharmacognosy we restrict the word "root" to its 
botanical meaning as referring to the descending axis of 
plants, but the theoretical characteristic of a " root- 
cap " is not recognizable in drugs of this class. The 
trade use of the word " root " to designate all forms of 
underground parts, as rhizomes, tubers, corms, bulbs, 
etc., is wrong and confusing and should be avoided. 

Roots are distinguished from stems by having no 
nodes or internodes, no buds, little or no pith, no 
cryptogamous growths on the bark, and by their irreg- 
ular branching. Drugs consisting of main-roots, with 
or without branches, taper from the stem-end to the 
tips of the roots or branches, as the case may be. 

When a root has a thick head to which the remains of 
several or many stems are attached, such head is called a 
"caudex," as in dandelion and senega; whensuchacaudex 
is present it is often a diagnostic feature of the drug. 

Secondary roots from rhizomes are of nearly uniform 

diameter and seldom branch, and have but very few and 

small fibrous rootlets ; when the rhizomes come into trade 

with their roots attached the latter are called " rootlets." 

11 



162 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

The microscopical structure of roots is similar to that 

of stems, and has already been described. 

We group roots as follows : — 

f Monocotyledonous 16 

(thin bark... 17 



( thin bark 17 

ROOTS< f Woody ] thi k b , j with ducts . . .18 

j Dicotyledonous. \ < \ without ducts. 19 

Fleshv (with ducts 20 

l^iesuy j Wlth0ut ducts 21 

The ducts here referred to are oil, resin, or latex- 
ducts or spaces, or even large special cells. 



GROUP XVI. 

MONOCOTYLEDONOUS ROOTS. 

Only two monocotyledonous or endogenous roots are 
used as drugs: Sarsaparilla and Vetivert. Both of these 
drugs are rootlets from rhizomes, and are therefore of 
uniform diameter throughout. 

Very long, about 4 to 5 mm. thick; brownish, 

Sarsaparilla 
Thin and slender, about 15 to 20 cm. long, 

and about 1 mm. thick Vetiveria. 

Sarsaparilla. 

N. Sarsaparilla. — o. Root of Smilax officinalis, S. 
medica, S. papyracea, and of other undetermined species 
of Smilax; Liliacece. — H. Mexico, Central America and 
Brazil ; also cultivated in Jamaica. — D. Slender roots, 
often over two meters long, about 4 to 5 millimeters 
thick, cylindrical, longitudinally furrowed or wrinkled, 
and breaking with an abrupt, sometimes mealy, some- 
times horny fracture; externally grayish-brown or red- 
ish-brown; internally white and mealy or horny ; nearly 
or quite inodorous, and with a slightly mucilaginous, at 
first bitter and afterwards also acrid taste. — c. The 
active constituent is variously known as parillin, smi- 
lacin, salseparin, parillinic acid, etc. — u. Generally 
reputed to be alterative, and popularly much esteemed 
as a " blood-purifier; " probably of little or no real 
medicinal value. Dose: Two to five grams, best given 
in the form of fluid extract or syrup. 

Sarsaparillas are generally classified as : 1, mealy sarsa- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



163 



parillas, in which the parenchyma cells most frequently 
contain unaltered starch grains, 
but also a pasty mass (altered 
starch?); and 2, non-mealy sarsa- 
parillas, in which the pasty 
mass preponderates in the 
parenchyma cells. This classi- 
fication does not seem to have 
much scientific merit, pharrna- 
cognostically or otherwise, ex- 
cept in so far that a mealy or 
starchy sarsaparilla — be it Hon- 
duras, Para, Mexican or Jamai- 
ca — is prob- 
ably a sounder 
drug than a 
n o n-m e a 1 y 
one. It is not 
i mpr ob able 
that all sarsa- 
parillas would 
be mealy if 
gathered at the 
right season, 
or if collected 
and cured with 
proper care ; 
or it may be 
that the roots 
are non-mealy 
only in those 
parts which 
are exposed or 
c o v e r ed by 
only a thin 
layer of earth 

in the growing plant, as the por- 
tions nearest the " chump " 

* RIO NEGRO. 




164 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



(rhizome) are almost always non-mealy and shriveled, 
while the ends of the roots, even in non-mealy 
kinds, are usually plump and mealy. Non-mealy sarsapa- 
rillas, which include Mexican and Jamaica varieties, are 
thin shriveled, deeply wrinkled, with 
less unaltered starch grains, and 
often horny on fracture. 

Para Sarsaparilla (also called 
Brazilian, Rio, Rio Negro, or Lis- 
bon) : Tbe roots without the chumps, 
cut to even lengths and wrapped in 
handsome bundles, as shown in the 
drawings; these bundles are about 
one to to one and one-half meters 
in length, and twenty-five to thirty- 
five centimeters thick, but this va- 
riety is not often used, although it 
is considered to bo the best. Gua- 
temala sarsaparilla is a variety of 
Brazilian sarsaparilla which comes 
into trade in smaller and looser bun- 
dles than the last mentioned; and 
Guayaquil sarsaparilla is still another 
variety of the Brazilian drug which 
comes in bales, without being put 
up in bundles. 

Honduras Sarsaparilla is con- 
sidered by many to be fully equal if 
not superior to Rio sarsaparilla, 
and it is highly esteemed in this 
country. It comes into trade in 
bundles about sixty-five centimeters 
to nearly one meter long, and from 
ten to fifteen centimeters thick, and 
of the form as shown in the draw- 
ing, although they are often more 
loosely wrapped. Sometimes the 
Honduras. bundles consist of roots only; some- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



165 



times the chumps remain attached; and sometimes the 
interior of the bundle is filled with pieces of the chumps 
chopped up and carefully hid- 
den by the roots which are 
wrapped around them, which 
of course constitutes an adul- 
teration. This variety is 
plump, little wrinkled, and of 
a brown color, and it has more 
small rootlets attached to the 
roots than in Rio sarsaparilla. 
Mexican Sarsaparilla 
comes into trade in bales con- 
taining about one hundred 
kilos. The roots are always 
attached to the caudex or 
chump, as represented in the 
drawing, and often quite long 
ends of stems remain and a 
mass of earth or clay adheres 
to the chump, thus materially 
adding to the weight. This 
kind of sarsaparilla is deeply 
wrinkled, and of a grayish- 
brown color. Mexican sarsa- 
parilla is sometimes also called 
Vera Cruz sarsaparilla; and 
Caracas sarsaparilla is also 
but a variety of the Mexican. 
Jamaica Sarsaparilla is so 
little used in this country that 
it needs but little mention. 
It comes in small, loosely 
wrapped bundles, and is red- 
dish-brown with numerous 
small rootlets which beset the 
roots and which give to this 
variety the descriptive name 
of '- bearded " sarsaparilla. Mexican. 




166 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



The Pharmacopoeia, speaking of all kinds of sarsapa- 
rilla, directs that " the thick, woody, knotty rhizome, if 
present, should be removed;" it is probable that the rhi- 
zome is at least equally as valuable as the roots, and in 
China root (the rhizome of Smilax China) the rhizome 
alone is used and the roots are rejected; the stems and 
adhering earth should be considered as adulterations, 




but the rhizome pare is equally as valuable as the roots 
and should not be directed to be thrown away, espe- 
cially as the concurrence of most authorities is to the 
effect that all parts, are medicinally nearly or quite 
worthless. 

The microscopical structure is similar in all varieties 
of sarsaparilla. When a section of a dry root is cut the 
circumference is seen to be deeply indented, but when 
the roots are soaked for making sections to be exam- 
ined by transmitted light, the roots become round and 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 167 

plump; the sections figured in the United States Dispen- 
satory, for instance, are wrong because they represent dry 
sections in outline but with the details which can be only 
seen in thin sections which have been cleared and which 
are examined by transmitted light, and which are round. 
A segment of a section of Caracas sarsaparilla is repre- 
sented in this drawing, from which the whole section 
may be readily imagined. The outer portion consists of 
a cuticle, and at places which were at the bottom of the 
wrinkles in the dry drug epidermal hairs are often at- 
tached to this cuticle ; immediately below the cuticle is 
a more or less thick layer of sclerenchyma cells, and in- 
side of this a layer of parenchyma of considerable 
thickness containing more or less starch according to the 
variety under examination ; and to the left of the segment 
of the section a portion of this parenchyma is shown 
more highly magnified. Then comes a layer of cells 
forming the nucleus sheath, a few of which are seen en- 
larged to the right of our drawing; within this nucleus 
sheath the fibro-vascular bundles are crowded into a 
continuous circle of wood, and the central portion within 
this woody layer consists of a pith similar in structure 




to the parenchyma outside of the nucleus sheath. The 
portion outside of the nucleus sheath is sometimes called 
the " cortical layer," but this term is misleading as it 
suggests a " bark," which, as we have already learned, 
does not exist in endogenous, stem or root structures. 



168 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



According to Schleiden sarsaparillas growing south of 
ten degrees north latitude have an inner parenchyma or 
pith which is from three to eight times as thick as the 
woody layer, as is seen in the left-hand figure, which 
represents Rio sarsaparilla ; and sarsaparillas growing 
north of the same line have a pith which is at most only 
one and one-half to two times the thickness of the 
woody layer, as is shown in the right-hand figure (page 
167), which shows Honduras sarsaparilla. 

The peculiar thickening of the subcuticular portion and 
of the nucleus sheath affords additional means of iden- 
tifying the different varieties of sarsaparilla, but we can- 
not enter into detail, but must be content with showing 
these parts from two varieties only. The upper figures 





represent the subcuticular cells from Vera Cruz sar- 
saparilla on the left, and of Honduras sarsaparilla on the 
right, while immediately below each is a drawing of a few 
cells of the nucleus sheath of the same varieties. The 
best test of the value of sarsaparilla is in the freshness 
and plumpness of the drug, and in the acridity of the taste. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 169 

Vetiveria. 

N. Yetivert, Radix Ivarancusae. — o. The rootlets of 
Andropogon muricatus ; Gramineae. — H. East India. — D. 
Slender, tough, string-like rootlets, about fifteen to 
twenty centimeters long and one millimeter thick, some 
with and some without smaller fibrous branchlets; yel- 




lowish-brown ; somewhat waxy on fracture ; the section 
showing large air-passages in the outer portion, with 
some resin-cells, and a bright-yellow wood portion which 
contains about eighteen large ducts in a circle ; aromatic 
and balsamic. — c. Resin and volatile oil. — u. Used alto- 
gether in the manufacture of perfumery, especially as an 
ingredient of sachet powders ; sometimes sold in bundles 
tied with strings or ribbons, the whole bundles to be used 
as sachets. 

GROUP XVII. 

WOODY EXOGENOUS ROOTS WITH THIN BARK. 

In woody dicotyledonous or exogenous roots the wood 
forms a complete, rigid, firm and hard wood-cylinder, 
which can be separated more or less readily from the 
bark ; with thin bark are those in which the bark is con- 
siderably less thick than the wood, often only one-sixth 
or one-eighth as thick as the latter. 



170 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Brown or purplish-brown ; wood tough Krameria. 

Blackish-brown and warty; wood in irregu- 
lar circles or rings Pareira. 

Wood firm and yellow; taste very sweet. . .Glycyrrhiza. 

Yellowish-brown; tough, yellowish wood.Gelsemium. 

Large grayish-brown; often with rootlets 

braided Methysticum 

Thin pale -brown bark, often scaling off and 

ShowiDg white wood Hydrangea. 

Krameria. 
N. Krameria, Rha- 
tany. — o. The root 
of Krameria triandra 
and K. Ixina; Poly- 
galeae.— H. South 
America. — D. Two 
kinds of rhatany are 
common in the trade, 
and may be used 
when this drug is pre- 
scribed : Peruvian or 
Payta rhatany (if. tri- 
andra) from Peru and 
Bolivia, and Savanilla 
rhatany (K. Ixina) 
from New Granada. 
The drawing shows 
Peruvian rhatany 
somewhat reduced in 
size; it is from one 
to three centimeters 
thick, with a knotty 
several -headed cau- 
dex, and is branched 
below; bark irregu- 
larly fissured, more or 
less rough, externally 
b 1 a c k i s h-brown or 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



171 



dark reddish-brown, coarsely fibrous. The wood is 
lighter red-brown, tough, and in the thicker pieces 
shows heartwood of a darker color; this is shown in the 
lower drawing of a section of the thick root, the accom- 
panying smaller section being that of a root branch. The 
bark is very astringent, but the wood is almost tasteless; 
owing to the greater proportion of bark in the smaller 
roots, as indicated in the sections, the drug is valuable in 
direct ratio as the thicker portions are rarer. Savanilla 
rhatany is less knotty or branched, shorter and more choco- 
late or purplish-brown, with scattered transverse fissures ; 
the bark is more brittle than that of Peruvian rhatany, and 
proportionately thicker, as shown in the upper drawing 
of a section, so that this variety really belongs in Group 
XIX, but is spoken of here for convenience' sake. — c. 
About twenty per cent of kramero-tannic acid, red color- 
ing matter, etc. — U. Astringent, useful in chronic 
diarrhoeas, etc. Dose: 0.5 to two grams, preferably in 
form of fluid extract. 



Pareira. 

N. Pareira, Pareira Brava. — o. The roots of Chond- 
odendron tomentosum ; Jfenispermaceae. — H. Brazil and 
Peru. — ». Pieces from a decimeter to a meter or more 
long, but generally cut into lengths of about ten to fif- 
teen centimeters ; varying in thickness from one or two to 
fifteen centimeters; cylindri- 
cal or irregular on transverse 
section; of ten tortuous ; ex- 
ternally blackish-brown, with 
transverse ridges or warts 
and longtitudinal furrows; 
internally pale-brown with 
a waxy luster when freshly 
cut; inodorous; taste bit- 
ter. The illustrations show 
the whole drug and its sec- 
tion in natural size; the bark 




172 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 





is thin and there is no pith ; 
the wood is arranged in two 
or three circles which some- 
times are very irregular; at 
the ends of the pieces the 
tough and separated bundles 
often project, as shown in 
the drawing. — c. Pelosine, 
identical with beberine. — V. 
Alterative diuretic, useful in 
cystitis and pyelitis, etc. 
Dose: Two to five grams, 
best given in form of fluid 
extract. 

The books mention several 
other roots which are used 
as admixtures or substitu- 
tions, but the genuine is so 
characteristic that other 
substances are readily recog- 
nized. The most common 
one of these false parei- 
ras comes in heavy pieces 
showing the structure as in 
the drawing; it is 
interesting mainly 
on account of the 
spurious rings, or 
sometimes even 
spirals (sp), which 
are sometimes 
found in woods of 
tropical growth. 
The Pharmaco- 
poeia directs that 
pieces of pareira 
having a bright 
yellow color, or 
the woody portion 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



173 



of which is grayish, hard and nearly tasteless, should be 
rejected. 

Glycyrriiiza. 

x, Liquorice root. — o. Fv^ot of Gli glabra and 

G. gl., var. g :; Legwm&nosae, — H, Native in 

Southern Europe and Western Asia, and cultivated in 
England, France and Germany. — D. Cylindrical, tough, 
pliable pieces, up to one meter long, and from five to 




twenty-five centimeters thick; externally grayish-brown, 
warty, and with longitudinal wrinkles: internally yellow- 
ish; with thin bark in the thicker pieces but propor- 
tionately thick bark in thin pieces, no pith, wood in nar- 
row bundles, and medullary rays linear, both bast and 
medullary wedges extending through the greater part of 
the bark; nearly inodorous; taste sweet, mucilaginous 



174 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

and somewhat acrid. In the stolons or underground 
stems which are sometimes present, there is a thin pith. — 
C. About six per cent of the glucoside glycyrrhizin. — u. 
Expectorant and demulcent; mainly used as an excipi- 
ent to mask the unpleasant tastes of other substances. 
Dose: Ad libitum. 

The illustration shows a segment of a section in the 
field of vision of the microscope, enlarged at the rate 
indicated by the scale which shows one millimeter di- 
vided into fifths of a millimeter. The piece from which 
this section was made was therefore a very small one, 
and the bark comparatively thick; the relation of the 
different parts to each other is clearly shown, as well as 
the peculiarity that growth is often excentric. 

Spanish, Italian, German and Turkish liquorice roots 
are all obtained from G. glabra, and correspond to the 
above description. The retail pharmacist generally 
buys the root cut in regular straight lengths and tied in 
bundles with wires, the crooked pieces and the cut ends 
being consumed in manufacture. 

The Russian liquorice root (from G. gl. var. glanduli- 
fera, or'G. echinata) is in thicker pieces, paler yellow 
color and with the bark removed; it has a less sweet 
taste, sometimes even having a bitter by-taste. It makes 
a fine looking powder, but it is inferior to the other 
variety for all other purposes for which liquorice root is 
employed. 

Only a very small proportion of all the liquorice root 
imported is used in pharmacy, the bulk being consumed 
in the manufacture of chewing tobacco. 

Gelsemium. 

N. Gelsemium, Yellow Jasmine. — o. The rhizomes 
and roots of Gelsemium sempervirens ; Loganiaceae. — H. 
Southern United States. — r>. Thick, branched rhizomes 
and roots, cut into short lengths and irregular pieces, 
which are sometimes split, mostly from five to fif- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



175 



teen millimeters thick, but occasionally to three centi- 
meters thick ; the rhizomes are thicker than the roots, but 
being cut they are not 
readily recognizable as 
rhizomes and the drug 
i3 for this reason classed 
under Roots; externally 
light yellowish-brown, 
with purplish longitud- 
inal lines and furrows 
a:id occasional trans- 
verse fissures; inter- 
nally pale yellowish; 
bark closely adherent to 
the wood, thin, with silky 
bast fibers; wood por- 
ous, tough, breaking 
with a splintery fract- 
ure, and showing lighter 
colored radiating medul- 
lary rays; the rhizome 
has a thin pith, the roots 
have none; odor feeble, 
somewhat narcotic ; 
taste bitterish. The 
drawing shows a large 
piece of root in natural 
size, and the section is 
that of a small root ex- 
amined by reflected light 
after soaking, and mag- 
nified five diameters. 
The furrows in the dry 
roots are caused by 
a shrinkage of the bark, 
determined by the 
bundles within, and the purplish color is due to the 
color of the external layers of cork which have that 




176 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



color, and which remain in the depression of the furrows 
but are apt to be rubbed off elsewhere. — C. An alkaloid, 
gelsemia. — u. Mainly in nerve affections of a neuralgic 
character; also as a depressant and sedative. Dose: 
0.1 to 0.5 gram, in tincture or fluid extract. 

In over-doses gelsemium is poisonous ; antidotal treat- 
ment consists in prompt evacuation of the stomach, the 
administration of diffusible stimulants, application of 
artificial warmth, electricity and artificial respiration. 
Digitalis and belladonna are physiological antidotes. 



Methysticum. 

N. Kava,Ava Kava,Kava 
, Kava. — o. Roots of Piper 
Methysticum; Piperaceae- 
— H. Sandwich and other 
Pacific Islands. — D. 
Large, massive roots, 
sometimes cut in pieces, 
generally with branches, 
the latter often braided 
and sometimes separate 
from the large roots; 
grayish-brown externally, 
internally pale-yellowish ; 
bark thin, often chipped 
off in flakes showing a 
characteristic net-work 
of yellowish-white bun- 
dles underneath, as shown in the drawing to the right; 
porous, frequently hollow, sometimes worm-eaten; odor 
somewhat fragrant; taste pungent, slightly aromatic, 
astringent and bitter. The drawing shows a root about 
one-fourth linear size. — c. About two per cent resin, 
some volatile oil, kavahin, etc. — u. Stimulant, diuretic, 
diaphoretic, sialogogue, etc. Dose : Two to five grams, 
best in fluid extract. 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



177 



Hydrangea 

N. Hydrangea. — O. Roots of Hydrangea arborescens; 
Saxifrageae. — H. United States, from the lakes south- 
ward. — D. Irregular, knotty head, two or more centi- 




meters thick, root branches finger-thick or less, much 
bent and somewhat tuberculous; usually cut into short 
pieces; thin pale-brown bark which occasionally peels off 
in spots, exposing the wood ; wood white and tough, 
breaking with a splintery fracture; odor none; taste 
insipid and sweetish, afterwards somewhat pungent. 
Hydrangea is shown in natural size in the drawings. — C. 
A crystalline glucoside, resin, etc. — r. Lithontriptic. 
Dose : 2 to 5 grams, best in fluid extract. 
12 



1/8 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



GROUP XVIII. 

woody roots; thick bark with ducts. 

In dicotyledonous or exogenous roots with thick bark 
the bark is often nearly as thick as the wood from the 
center outwards, or sometimes even as thick as the whole 
wood-cylinder. Such roots sometimes have oil, resin or 
latex ducts, spaces, or large cells in the middle bark, and 
when this is the case they belong to this group. Only 
three are of any importance ; the wood in these is not very 
firm, but it often is tough and breaks separately from the 
bark; Maisch calls them fleshy roots. 

Long roots, gray bark about one- 
fourth of diameter of the dry 
root Apocynum Cannabinum 

Similar to above, but thinner, 
brown, arid bark about one- 
sixth of entire thickness Apocynum Androsaemi- 

folium. 

Short brownish-gray sections, 
wood spongy and bark easily 
separable and flaring at cut 
ends Stillingia. 

Apocynum Cannabinum. 

N. Apocynum, Canadian Hemp, Black Indian Hemp. — 
o. Apocynum cannabinum; Apocynaceae. — H. United 
States. — D. Long, cylindrical, sometimes branched 
roots, three to twelve millimeters thick, average thick- 
ness being about seven millimeters; bark thick, about 
one-fourth of the diameter of the dried root, or one- third 
of the diameter of a root after soaking in water; ex- 
ternally gray, sometimes with a faint brownish tint, 
with blunt longitudinal wrinkles and deep transverse 
fissures extending through the bark to the wood ; in 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



179 



section the bark of small pieces 
of root is white or lighter in color 
than the wood, but in old pieces it 
is darker, even brown and some- 
times resinous; wood yellowish, 
porous, breaking with an abrupt 
fracture when the drug is thor- 
oughly dry or bending before 
breaking when not dry; neither 
pith nor central cavity; inodor- 
ous; taste bitter and disagree- 
able, — c. An amorphous resin 
and a glucoside. — u. Emetico- 
cathartic; useful for removal of 
dropsical fluids. Dose 0.5, even 
to two grams as an emetic, best 
given in fluid extract. 

The drawings show two pieces 
{a and c) of root and a piece (b) 
of the stem, all natural size; the 
stem, which is often present, is 
brown, has a pith or central cav- 
ity, and often shows buds; it has 
no transverse fissures, the bark is thin, wood tough; 
sometimes it is split lengthwise; the taste is slight. 





b. a c. 

The drawings of sections show the dry root in section 
(a) in natural size, the root after soaking in water and 



180 



NOTES OK PHARMACOGNOSY. 



examined by reflected light, enlarged (5), and a section 
of the latter after clearing with liquor potassae (c), also 
enlarged, which shows the resin ducts. 



Apocynum Androsaemifolium. 

H. Bitter Root, Dogs-bane. — o. 
The root of Apocynum androsaemifo • 
Hum; Apocynaceae. — H. United 
States. — r>. Rarely exceeding ten 
centimeters loug, and from three to 
twelve millimeters thick, the average 
thickness being about four or five 
millimeters; externally rusty reddish- 
brown, the thick bark deeply and 
sharply wrinkled longitudinally, and 
with transverse fissures that extend 
through the bark to the wood; bark 
about one-sixth the total diameter iu 
the dry root, or nearly one-third the 
diameter in the soaked root; wood 
white, porous and brittle, breaking 
with an abrupt fracture; inodorous; 
taste very bitter. — c. Probably similar 
to those of A, cannabinam. — tr. Eme- 
tico-cathartic, used in hepatic derange- 
ments; action probably like that of 
Dose: 0.5, even to two grams as an 
emetic, best in fluid extract. 

The stem, which is generally present, is recognized by 
its large pith or central cavity, its tough wood which is 
often split lengthwise, and the buds attached; some 
of the buds are marked with asterisks in the drawing. 
The drawings show stem (a) and root (b) in natural 
size. 

In the drawings of sections a represents that of the 
dry root; b that of a root after being soaked in water, 
examined with a lens by reflected light; and c is a section 




A. cannabinum. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



181 



of stem, also after being soaked and by reflected light, 
enlarged. 




a. c. 

The two varieties of Apocynum are frequently mixed; 
the differences are here noted side by side. 



^4. cannabinum. 

Diameter averages about 
seven millimeters. 



A. androsaemifolium. 
Diameter averages about 
four to five millimeters, 
although as large and as 
small pieces as any of A, 
cannabinum can be found. 
Thickness of bark about 
one- sixth of the entire 
diameter of the dry drug. 
Externally reddish-brown. 
Vessels less numerous and 
nearly all in one circle 
near the outer edge of 
the wood cylinder, only 
a few being scattered 
farther within. 
It is probable that the actions of the two drugs are 
identical, so that a careful differential diagnosis between 
them is of importance only because of the absolute neces- 
sity in medicine of calling each drug by its own proper 



Thickness of bark about 
one-fourth of the entire 
diameter of the dry drug. 

Externally gray. 

Vessels in woody portion 
more or less concentri- 
cally arranged. 




182 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

name, without which no reliable knowledge of pharmaco- 
dynamics could exist. 

Stillingi a. 

N. Stillingia, Queen's Root. — o. The root of Stillingia 
sylvatica; Euphorbiaceae. — H. Southern United States. — 
D. The fresh root is large, thick, tapering, little branched, 
tough and fibrous. The drug con- 
sists of the root chopped into pieces 
about two to five centimeters long, 
wrinkled, brownish-gray externally 
and somewhat lighter colored within ; 
bark thick, with numerous yellowish- 
brown resin-cells and but few bast 
fibers, and a soft, porous, although 
fibrous wood; in drying the bark 
shrinks lengthwise so that it flares 
at the cut ends and often separates partly or completely 
from the slightly projecting wood, although the latter 
usually remains inclosed; taste bitter, acrid and pungent, 
and odor peculiar and disagreeable. — c. Resin and 
probably a glucoside; no full analysis has been made. — 
U. Alterative. Dose : One to two grams. 



GROUP XIX. 

Differs from the last group in the roots having no oil, 
resin or latex ducts, spaces or large cells. 

Purplish-brown, wood tough, bark thick . . ..Krameria. 
Small roots, blackish-brown, with thick 

annular bark ipecacuanha. 

Krameria. 

The bark of Krameria Ixina belongs in this group, but 
it has already been described in connection with Peruvian 
Rhatany, under Group XVII, to which the reader is 
referred. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 183 

Ipecacuanha. 

N. Ipecacuanha, Ipecac. — o. The roots of Cephaelis 
Ipecacuanha; Bubiaceae. — H. Brazil. — D. The roots 
come into trade in pieces up to ten centimeters long, and 
from four to five millimeters thick; seldom 
branched, often contorted; externally grayish- 
brown or blackish ; bark thick, closely and ir- 
regularly annuiated and often transvers^-y fis- 
sured, giving the drug the appearance as in the 
drawing, which is natural size; burk easily sep- 
arable from the thin, tough, whitish wood 
cylinder; odor peculiar, nauseous, but slight, 
and taste bitterish, acrid and nauseating. — c. 
Emetine. — U. In large doses emetic, in small 
doses expectorant and diaphoretic: Dose: 0.03 
to 0.05 gram; as an emetic one to two grains. 

Stems, which are sometimes admixed, may be recog- 
nized by the thin and smooth bark which is not annuiated. 
Good ipecac consists of about eighty per cent of bark 




by weight. " When Ipecac is sound and free from 
mouldiness, its quality is proportionate to the thickness 
of the bark and the thinness of the ligneous portion" 



1£4 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

(United States Pharmacopoeia). The illustrations show 
good ipecac, whole, and a section of same magnified at 
the rate shown by the scale which is one millimeter di- 
vided into fifths. It is difficult to clear the cells of their 
contents, so that most of them remain filled with starch. 
The books mention various spurious ipecacs, but as 
they are not found in our markets, it is not necessary 
to mention them here. 

Fleshy Roots. 

In fleshy roots the fibro-vascular bundles are either 
small and widely separated so that there is no wood- 
cylinder, or the prosenchyma of the bundles is little or 
not at all lignified, so that although there may appear 
to be a wood-cylinder and cambium zone, all the tissues 
are of nearly the same degree of softness, and so inti- 
mately united that the bark will not separate from the 
wood on drying or in the fresh condition; there is, how- 
ever, no rigid demarcation between woody and fleshy 
roots, so that roots which are classed as fleshy by some 
authors are classed as woody by others. Besides, just 
as in radishes a younger root may be succulent and 
tender, and an older root be hard and woody and unfit 
for eating, so, in drugs, the age of the gathered root may 
also determine its degree of woodiness. However, there 
is one characteristic which we can use as a distinguish- 
ing feature, that in woody roots the bark sometimes sep- 
arates from the wood while in fleshy roots it does not. 

Owing to the fact that fleshy roots are made up mainly 
of succulent parenchyma, which decreases very much in 
bulk on drying and the further fact that the longitudinal 
bundles offer more resistance to contraction during dry- 
ing than is offered to contraction in the transverse direc- 
tion, most fleshy roots show deep longitudinal wrinkles, 
although some also show less marked transverse wrin- 
kles. The cambium zone, consisting of more delicate 
cells, often oxidizes readily and becomes brown, espe- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 185 

cially in fleshy roots that are cut into sections before 
drying, and thus it forms a dark line which sometimes 
becomes a diagnostic feature. Similarly, drying may 
cause a marked contrast between the colors of the wood 
rays and medullary rays, sometimes the one, sometimes 
the other being the darker colored, and this, too, is of 
value in recognizing the individual drugs. 

We divide fleshy roots into two groups. Group XX, 
consisting of fleshy roots with latex, oil or resin ducts, 
cells or spaces, and Group XXT, fleshy roots without 
such ducts. 

GROUP XX. 

FLESHY ROOTS WITH DUCTS. 

The oil, resin or latex ducts, spaces or large cells 
referred to are mainly found in the parenchyma of the 
inner and middle bark; sometimes also in the inner parts 
of the root, or in the bast portion of the fibro-vascular 
bundles, or in the medullary rays and pith. 

Hard, tuberous, irregularly round or pear- 
shaped, dark brown * Jaiapa. 

With caudex, branched, section marked 

With concentric lines Taraxacum. 

With caudex, branched, section marked 
with radiating lines Cicnorium. 

Hard, yellowish -brown or gray, bark 
closely tu berculated Asciepias 

Tough, porous sections with irregular 
bundles Sumbui. 

Light grayish-brown, branched root, deeply 

Wrinkled Angelica 

Fusiform, yellowish, annulate, often bifid.. Panax. 
Fusiform, dark grayish-brown, annulate 

above, deeply wrinkled. Pyrethrum. 

Thick, round root with long branches, or 

sometimes in transverse or longitudinal 

Sections Inula. 



186 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Long, spongy or flexible, light -colored, 
usually split lengthwise L.evisticum . 

Dark-brown, knotty, flattened, with root- 
scars and transverse rings imperatoria. 

Long, slender, yellowish-white, flexible, 

usually Split lengthwise . Petroselinum. 

Long, yellowish -brown, annulate above, 
wrinkled and warty below Pimpineiia. 



Jalapa. 

n. Jalap. — o. The 
tuberous root of Ipomcea 
Jalapa; Convolvulacece. — 
H. Mexico. — D. Irreg- 
ularly rounded, ovate or 
pear-shaped, as ia the 
drawing, more are less 
deeply wrinkled and the 
larger roots incised, 
darkbrown with lighter- 
colored transverse warts 
or ridges, very hard and 
compact, breaking with 
an abrupt, horny and 
somewhat resinous frac- 
ture ; internally pale 
grayish-brown ; consists 
mainly of starchy paren- 
chyma with large resin- 
cells arranged in a dense 
layer under the thin bark 
and in wavy concentric 
circles which -are darker than the starch-containing 
portions, as shown in the drawing of a section; taste 
sweetish, acrid and disagreeable and odor sweetish and 
nauseous. — C. From ten to twenty per cent of resin; 
good jalap should not contain less than twelve per cent, 
of which not over one-tenth should be soluble In ether. — 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



187 



U. Hydragogue cathartic. Dose: 0.5 to 1.5 grams. 
Jalap is said to occasionally come into the market in 




longitudinal or transverse slices, but this is certainly 
quite rarely the case. 

Jalap must be sound, heavy and hard; soft and sticky, 
or mealy and light-colored, or woody tubers must be re- 
jected. False jalaps are excluded by the description just 
given. Tampico Jalap resembles true jalap, but is of 
more irregular form without the transverse ridges or 
warts, light in weight, shriveled, and contains a resin 
which is almost entirely soluble in ether. Male Jalap is 
spindle-shaped, light and woody, with a resin that is 
wholly soluble in ether. Mechoaccan Jalap usually comes 
cut into slices or cubes, and is light-colored or almost 
whitish, mealy and with very little resin. 

Genuine jalap is sometimes deprived of its resin by 
maceration in a solvent, and then dried; such jalap is 
darker-colored throughout, more wrinkled, and glossy 
externally. Worm-eaten jalap is unfit for all purposes 



188 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



but making resin of jalap, for which latter purpose it is 
still valuable, because the insects which attack it destroy 
only the cells containing starch, so that the more worm- 
eaten the drug, the greater will be the proportionate yield 
of resin. 

Taraxacum. 

N. Dandelion. — o. Root of Taraxacum officinale gath- 
ered in autumn; Compositce.— H. Europe and United 
States. — r>. The drug consists of a several-headed caudex 




with a cylindrical or somewhat tapering and slightly 
branched root, ten to fifteen centimeters long and up 
to ten millimeters thick and with the caudex sometimes 
up to twenty-five millimeters in diameter; usually much 
shrunken and with deep longitudinal wrinkles; externally 
dark-brown and internally light gray or whitish; fracture 
abrupt, brittle, and somewhat resinous, showing a thin 
yellowish central wood-cylinder consisting of reticulated 
and dotted ducts, non-lignified prosenchyma and paren- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 189 

chyma, and a thick whitish bark marked with numerous 
grayish-brown circles of latex ducts; little or no odor, 
and a sweetish-bitter and mucilaginous taste. — c. Ta- 
raxacin, inulin, etc. — u. Bitter tonic and cholagogue. 
Dose: Two to ten grams. 

Dandelion is frequently much discolored, damaged by 
insects, mouldy or otherwise worthless. It should be 
perfectly sound and recently dried to be of best value. 
Many lots of dandelion consist of small and apparently 
immature roots, having but little resemblance to dande- 
lion as it should appear, but even in those roots the con- 
centric markings are very plain; the section is drawn 
from a small root, the scale being one millimeter divided 
into fifths. 

Chicory (Cichoriuin, from 
Cichorium Intybus; Composite) 
is sometimes substituted for 
or added to dandelion, which 
it very closely resembles in 
its outward appearance; the 
transverse section, however, 
offers a ready means for dis- 
tinguishing between the two 
drugs, chicory having the 
latex vessels arranged in ra- 
diating lines in the bark, instead of in concentric circles, 
as in dandelion. Only the wild-grown chicory is used 
as a substitute for dandelion, and it is generally lighter- 
colored than dandelion; the cultivated chicory, which is 
used as an adulterant for coffee, etc., is shorter and 
more plump than dandelion and not easily mistaken 
for it. The scale is the same as in dandelion. 



Asclepias. 

N. Asclepias; Pleurisy Root. — o. The root of Asclepias 
tuberosa; Asclepiadece. — H. United States, near Atlan- 
tic Coast. — d. Large, cylindrical, sometimes spindle- 




190 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY* 



shaped roots, usual- 
ly cut into lengths of 
from 5 to 15 centi- 
meters, and 2 or more 
centimeters thick; ex- 
ternally orange-brown 
when fresh, gray when 
old, internally whitish; 
breaks with a tough and 
uneven fracture show- 
ing the bark in two lay- 
ers; the external bark 
nodulated in a peculiar 
manner, as shown in 
the drawing, affording 
a diagnostic feature, the 
inner bark thin, whitish 
and with but few ducts, 
and the wood porous, 
yellowish, and with wide 
medullary rays ; taste 
bitterish and somewhat 
acrid, odor none. — c. 
Two resins, fixed and 
volatile oils, etc. — tl. 
Diaphoretic, expecto- 
rant and carminative. 
Dose: Two to five 
grams, several times a 
day. 

Sumbul. 
N. Musk Root.— o. 
The root of Ferula Sum- 
bul; Umbelliferce. — H. 
Central and Northeast- 
ern Asia. — p. Trans- 
verse segments of a light, spongy root, from two to 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 191 

ten centimeters thick and two to three centimeters 
long; externally dark-brown, annulate and sometimes 
deeply wrinkled longitudinally, and internally whitish, 




with yellowish-brown dots and tangled fibers; taste 
bitter and balsamic, and odor musk-like. — C. Volatile 
oil, resin, etc. — u. Stimulant, blennorrhetic, and nervine 
tonic. Dose: 0.5 to 2 grams. 

The dark markings on the cut ends are due mainly to 
adhering dirt rubbed off from the outer parts; the illus- 
tration shows a portion broken away, exposing the clean, 
whitish tissue within. 

False Musk Root consists of the roots of Ammonia- 
cum; it is not light and spongy, and is yellowish-red in 
color. When added as an adulteration it becomes flavored 
with the musk-like odor, and therefore resembles the 
genuine in odor. 

Angelica. 

N. Angelica Root. — o. The root of Archangelica offici- 
nalis, collected in the spring of the second year; 



192 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Umbelliferce. — h. Central and Northern Europe and 

Asia.— p. Root five to 
ten centimeters long and 
two to five centimeters 
thick; the upper end 
somewhat annulate and 
with leaf remnants at- 
tached; below divided 
into a number of almost 
cylindrical deeply wrin- 
kled branches ; externally 
grayish - brown ; breaks 
with a short, spongy frac- 
ture, showing a thick 
whitish bark with radiat- 
ing lines of large resin 
ducts in the bast por- 
tions of the bundles, and 
a yellowish porous wood. 
The illustration shows a 
root in natural size. The 
drug should not be so 
dry as to be brittle. — c. 
Volatile oil, and resin. — 
u. Aromatic, stimulant 
and carminative. Dose: 
One to five grams. 

Panax. 

N. Ginseng. — O. The 
root of Panax quinque- 
folius; Araliacece. — H. 
North America south to 
the mountains of Tennes- 
see and Georgia. — r>. 
Spindle-shaped, five to 
ten centimeters long, 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



193 



often bifid or with three branches, annulate and longi- 
tudinally wrinkled; pale yellowish-brown externally, 
white and mealy 
within; breaks 
with a short 
fracture, show- 
ing thick bark 
which contains 
numerous resin 
cells; taste 
sweetish and 
aromatic and 
odor faint. Ow- 
ing to the high 
price of gin- 
seng, it is often 
gathered before fully grown, and small specimens like 
those figured are therefore most common. — c. A sweet 
amorphous substance which has been named panaquilon, 
resin, etc. — U. Stimulant tonic; gathered mainly for ex- 
port to China, where it is highly prized as an aphrodisiac. 
Dose: 2 to 5 grams. 




Pyretlirum. 

N. Pellitory, Roman Pellitory. — o. The root of Ana- 
cyclus Pyrethrum; Composite. — H. Africa, adjacent to 
Mediterranean Sea; comes into trade mainly from Tunis 
through Italy. — D. Fleshy, 
simple, fusiform root, 
from five to ten cm. 
long and from five to 
twenty mm. thick, the 
upper end annulate and 
sometimes with frayed 
remnants of leaves and 
stem; deeply wrinkled and 
dark-brown externally and 
grayish-white internally ; with abrupt fracture showing 

13 





194 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

comparatively thin bark, the outer layer of the 
middle bark containing comparatively few but large 
resin ducts, narrow yellowish wood-bundles and wider 
and darker-colored medullary rays, as shown in the 
drawing of a section of a dry root, magnified three diam- 
eters; odorless, but with an acrid and pungent taste. — 
C. Acrid resin and fixed oil, etc. — u. Irritant, siala- 
gogue, etc. Dose: Two to five grams. 

German Pellitory consists of the roots of 
Anacyclus officinarum, which are simple, 
nearly straight and filiform, up to fifteen 
cm. long and two to three mm. thick, 
with frayed leaf and stem remnants, deeply wrinkled, 
dark-brown externally, lighter brown within, with abrupt 
fracture, showing two layers separated by a darker- 
colored cambium zone and with numerous resin ducts in 
the bast portion; taste, odor, constituents and uses 
similar to those of Roman Pellitory. The drawings of 
the sections are after Berg, the smaller showing German 
Pellitory, also magnified three diameters. 

Inula. 

N. Inula, Elecampane. — o. The root of Inula Helen- 
ium; Compositce. — H. Central and Southern Europe; 
naturalized and cultivated in the United States. — l>. It 
is usually described as being in transverse or longitudi- 
nal sections, the latter with overlapping bark, as shown in 
the crescent-shaped section (after Maisch) ; I have more 
frequently found it whole, or at most, cut into two or 
three pieces and rarely longitudinally sliced, so that the 
" overlapping bark " is seldom to be seen. The drug, 
as I have seen it in trade, is shown in natural size in the 
drawing; it is a fleshy root, about two to three cm. thick 
at the upper end and from five to twenty-five cm. long, 
sometimes whole but often cut into two or three pieces, 
the figure showing the upper end which is most charac- 
teristic; this end is marked with a cup or funnel-shaped 
stem-scar and with several more or less fusiform heads, 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



195 



each having a similar depression. The root either 
tapers gradually to a thin ead or it may end 
rather abruptly in several branches, which are gen- 
erally cut off and come as separate pieces ; the lower 
root-ends or branches 
taper from about ten 
mm. to a point and are 
from five to fifteen cm. 
long, either simple or 
slightly branched, 
deeply wrinkled longi- 
tudinally, flexible in 
damp weather, but 
hard when dry when 
they break with an ab- 
rupt fracture; the cut 
and dried ends of 
larger pieces show 
projecting concentric 
and radial lines, while 
the smaller roots have 
the structure as shown 
enlarged in the figure 
of a whole section; 
very rarely a piece 
may show a tendency 
to separate at the cam- 
bium zone, which, if 
more frequent, would 
make this a woody 
root; externally all parts of the drug, including 
the cut sui faces, are of a grayish-brown color, but, 
when broken, the interior appears grayish-white with 
the resin ducts showing as bright yellow, glistening 
points under a lens in the middle bark and inner bark, 
in the medullary rays and pith; the odor is faintly aro- 
matic and the taste is bitter and pungent. — C. Resin, 
extractive, etc., but no starch. — u. Stimulant, expec- 





196 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

torant, diaphoretic and diuretic. Dose: Two to ten 
grams. 

!Levisticum. 

N. Lovage. — o. The root of Levisticum officinale: Um- 
belliferce. — H. S mthern and Central Europe ; cultivated 
in Germany. — ». A fleshy root, eight to twenty cm. 
long and three to four cm. thick, 
several-headed, annulated at the 
upper end and divided below into 
several nearly cylindrical flexible 
branches which are about three to 
six mm. thick but usually split 
longitudinally into halves or quar- 
ters; deeply wrinkled longitudinally; yellowish-brown 
to dark-brown ^externally and pale-yellowish inter- 
nally; fracture spongy, showing a thick bark with 
many resin ducts and with radiating fissures, and the 
yellow wood-bundles alternating with narrow white 
medullary rays which also contain resin ducts; the 
main root has a pith; odor strong and penetrating 
and taste sweetish, mucilaginous and acrid. The draw- 
ing is after Berg and shows a section of a dry root 
enlarged three diameters. — C. Resin, volatile oil, bitter 
extractive, etc. — U. Stimulant carminative and emmena- 
goguc. Dose: 0.5 to 2 grams. 

Itnperatoria . 

N. Masterwort. — o. The root of Imperatoria (or 
Peucedanum) Ostruthium; Umbelliferce. — H. Southern 
and Central Europe. — d. Masterwort is sometimes 
classed as a root, sometimes as a rhizome; the upper 
end is a root stock from which branches proceed in the 
living plant at the ends of which buds and new plants 
are formed, but usually this is but a small part of the 
pieces while much the larger part is root; but the rhi- 
zome portion may constitute so large a proportion of 
some pieces that they would be pronounced to be rhi- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



197 



zomes and this drug is therefore also enumerated among 
rhizomes (Group XXIX) . The illustration gives a good 
idea of the appearance and size of the drug; it is knotty, 
somewhat conical, 
crowned with leaf 
remnants, flattened 
as seen in the out- 
line of its section 
(natural size), 
marked with trans- 
verse rings and 
longitudinal wrin- 
kles and tubercul- 
o u s root-s cars; 
from five to seven 
cm. long and about 
fifteen to thirty 
mm. wide; the en- 
larged section 
shows a circle of 
numerous small 
wood-bundles in- 
closing a large pith, 
and with numerous 
large resin ducts 
in the bark and 
pith; the color is 
grayish-brown to blackish-gray externally and brownish- 
yellow to whitish within; odor aromatic and taste pun- 
gent and bitter. — c. Volatile oil, resin, imperatorin, etc. — 
U. Aromatic stimulant and carminative; seldom used. 
Dose: One to two grams. 

Masterwort bears a slight resemblance to aconite and 
has been found mixed with the latter; it was probably 
an accidental admixture, or a substitution through igno- 
rance, as masterwort is worth more than aconite and 
therefore would not be intentionally added as an adulter- 
ant. 




198 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Petroselinum . 

N. Parsley Root. — o. The root of Petroselinum sativum; 
Umbelliferce. — H. Southern Europe; cultivated in this 
country.—r). A tapering fleshy root, 
about fifteen cm. long and about 
twelve mm. thick; annulate and 
transversely wrinkled above and 
deeply wrinkled longitudinally 
below; wood light-yellow and por- 
ous, and radiate from the white 
medullary rays, the bark whitish 
and dotted with resin ducts; color externally brownish - 
yellow and whitish within; odor aromatic and taste 
peculiar and sweetish. The drug usually consists of the 
root cut into longitudinal strips, which are pale yellowish- 
white and flexible. The drawing is after Maisch, and 
shows a section of a root enlarged three diameters. — c. 
Volatile oil, e f c. — H. Carminative and diuretic. Dose: 
Two to five grams. 




Pimpinella. 

N. Pimpernel. — o. The root of Pimpinella Saxifraga; 
Umbelliferce. — H. Central Europe. — d. A simple fleshy 
root, sometimes several-headed, the heads with remains 
of hollow stems; from ten to fif- 
teen cm. long and five to fif- 
teen mm. thick; the upper end of 
the root annulate, the lower part 
tuberculate or warty, and the 
whole deeply furrowed longitudi- 
nally; yellowish-brown or ocbre- 
colored externally ; fracture 
short, abrupt, showing a thick white bark with radiating 
lines of yellowish or reddish resin ducts, separated by 
a darker-colored cambium zone from the faintly radiate 
yellowish wood; in old pieces the bark is often torn 
and fissured within on drying, so that it feels spongy; 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 199 

odor peculiar, aromatic and somewhat nauseous, and 
taste pungent and acrid. The drawing of the section 
is after Berg, and shows a section of a dry root enlarged 
three diameters. — C. Volatile oil, resin, etc. — u. Stimu- 
lant and sialagogue. Dose: 0.5 to 2 grams. 

GROUP XXI. 

This group consists of fleshy roots with structure 
similar to those of the last group, but without the ducts. 
Conical, blackish-brown, tuberous 

roots, single or joined in pairs Aconitum. 

Slender, light grayish-brown roots, 

little branched Belladonna? Radix. 

Large, round or plano-convex orange- 
yellow pieces of roots, peeled Rheum. 

Whole, or longitudinally split, dark- 
brown roots, transversely annulate 

above Gentiana. 

Several-headed caudex, root branched 
and keeled, yellowish-gray, wood 
not cylindrical ..Senega. 

Transverse sections, greenish-gray 
bark, yellowish on cut surfaces Caiumba. 

Grayish -white transverse sections, 
hard, with prominent radiating and 

concentric lines Bryonia. 

White roots with cork removed, ex- 
ternally white, mealy and fibrous. . . Althaea. 

Longitudinal and transverse sections, 
with projecting white wood-bundles 
alternating with yellowish- gray pa- 
renchyma Phytolacca? Radix. 

Long, simple, fusiform root, usually 
partially broken and doubled up 
lengthwise Rumex. 

Brown-black, horny, somewhat con- 
torted roots, often split lengthwise. Symphytum. 



200 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Long, thin roots, externally rust- 
brown, internally whitish Saponaria. 

Cylindrical, simple, fleshy root, gray- 
ish-brown and wrinkled Lappa. 

Crowned with leaf bases and covered 
with a dark purplish foliaceous bark 
easily separable from the yellowish 
WOOd • Alkanna. 

Longitudinal or transverse slices, pale 
orange-brown Frasera. 

Aconitum. 

N. Aconite Root, Monkshood. — o. The root of Aconi- 
tum Napellus; Banunculacece. — H. Mountainous parts of 
Europe and Asia. — D. Aconite root is sometimes classed 
as a tuber, because a small portion at the top is a root 
stock which produces a short lateral branch, at the end 
of which anew root and stem is formed; the old root 
(" mother tuber'') has a portion of stem adhering 
while the younger root (" daughter tuber ") is crowned 
with a bud, which would form the next season's stem ; 
the two are often attached to each other in the drug, 
but also occur separately. The bulk of drug is root 
and the drug is therefore described under this group. 
The illustration shows the appearance of the root 
(A. N.) in natural size; conical or tapering, ten to 
twenty mm. thick at the top and three to six cm. long, 
with either a bud or the remains of a stem at the apex, 
seldom branched, dark brown, the root with bud plump, 
little wrinkled, and whitish within, the one with stem 
remnant more deeply wrinkled and darker, even brown- 
ish within and sometimes hollow; fracture abrupt, 
mealy or horny, showing five to eight-rayed star 
(usually seven-rayed) caused by the darker- colored 
cambium zone which separates the thick bark from the 
pith; odorless, taste at first sweetish, then acrid and 
followed by a tingling numbness, which is persistent 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



201 



and disagreeable, and the intensity of which has been 
suggested as a good empirical test for the quality of the 
drug. — C. Aconitine, pseudaconitin, aconine, pseuda- 
conine, picraconitine, etc., which together constitute the 
commercial article which is sold as " aconitine." — u. 




A.N. 1 



Sedative and depressant; very poisonous. Dose: 0.05 to 
0.10 gram in tincture. 

Antidotes. — Stomach pump or emetics (sulphate of 
zinc, mustard, apomorphine") ; friction of extremities; 
heart stimulants, as digitalis, atropine, or amyl nitrite 
inhalations; heat applied externally, etc. 



202 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Aconitum Cammarum (A. C.) is also gathered in 
Europe; it is only about two cm. long and sub-globular 
and the cambium star seldom more than five-rayed, and 
less marked than in A. Napellus. 

Aconitum Stoerckianum, is characterized by the 
" mother tuber" developing two " daughter tubers," so 
that it comes in triplets ; the cambium zone is not stellate. 

These two varieties are sometimes mixed with the roots 
of A. Napellusy and have the same action. 




Indian Aconite, from A. ferox (A. F.), called bikh or 
bishi is from five to ten cm. long and about twenty-five 
mm. thick above, conical, brown externally and reddish- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



203 



brown or brownish-black internally and breaks with a 
resinoid fracture. 

Japanese or Chinese Aconite ( J. A. ), from A. 
Fischeri, is napiform, tapering, with a circular or ellip- 
tical (rarely stellate) pith. 

All of these roots are used for the manufacture of the 
commercial " aconitine," 

Belladonnas Radix. 

N. Belladonna Root. — o. The root of Atropa Bella- 
donna; Solanacece. — H. Central or Southern Europe. — 
r>. The illustration shows an old and thick root, with the 
base of the hollow 
stem attached; the 
drug consists 
mainly of the more 
slender, tapering 
and often nearly 
cylindrical roots, 
up to twenty-five 
cm. long and from 
ten to twenty-five 
mm. thick, exter- 
nally pale brownish- 
gray with few and 
shallow longitudinal wrinkles; breaks with an abrupt 
mealy fracture, the thinner pieces uniformly white within, 
the thicker and older pieces showing a radiating structure 
inside of and near the cambium zone, as shown in the 
drawing of a section ; odor little or none, and taste at first 
sweetish, then bitterish and acrid, and followed by dry- 
ness of the mouth and fauces. — c. Atropine. — u. Ano- 
dyne, narcotic; dilates the pupils of the eyes; suppresses 
the secretions of the salivary and sweat glands; in medi- 
cinal doses it is a valuable heart-stimulant, but in over- 
doses it is a narcotic poison and paralyzes the heart; 
externally, as an ingredient of plasters, it is a valuable ano- 




204 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



dyne and anti-neuralgic and the ointment of belladonna 
is applied to the breasts to suppress the secretion of 

milk. Dose: About 0.05 
gram. 

" Roots .which are tough 
and woody, breaking with 
a splintery fracture, should 
be rejected; likewise the 
hollow stem-bases which 
are sometimes present " 
(U. S. F.) ; but this empiri- 
cal rule will sometimes lead 
to the rejection of a good 
drug, because a drug as 
here described occasionally 
assays as high as the drug 
described above, and which 
usually is the better; no 
I large lot of roots should 
be rejected on its appear - 
fance alone; but a quanti- 
tative assay should be made 
to determine the quality of 
the drug. 

Antidotes. — The poi- 
sonous effect shows itself 
by extreme dilatation of the 
pupils, dryness of the 
fauces, headache, delirium, 
stupor, paralysis, weak 
pulse and respiration, and 
finally death. Treatment 
consists in the use of the 
stomach pump or emetics, 
opium internally and stim- 
ulants when heart failure 
is threatened. Opium is a 
physiological antidote. 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 205 

Rheum. 

N. Rhubarb. — o. The root of Bheum officinale, Baillon, 
and probably some other varieties of Bheum; Polygons 
cece. — H. Western and Central China. — r>. Cylindrical, 
conical or irregular, or flatfish, often plano-convex 
pieces of root, deprived of the corky layer and often of 
the middle bark, covered externally with an orange- 
yellow powder (from attrition), which when rubbed off 
shows meshes of white, spongy tissue and short, red- 
dish-brown or brownish-yellow striae; compact and hard, 
breaking with an uneven fracture, the broken surface 
being whitish and marbled or mottled with yellowish- 
red striae which are sometimes arranged in star-shaped 
spots or clusters; the parenchyma cells are filled with 
starch or stellate clusters of oxalate of calcium which 
feel gritty between the teeth, and the cells of the me- 
dullary rays are rilled with a reddish coloring matter 
which colors the saliva yellow; the odor is peculiar and 
the taste is bitter, disagreeable and slightly astringent. — 
C. Chrysophan, chrysophanic acid, emodin, tannin, etc. — 
u. Rhubarb is at first purgative, followed afterwards by 
an astringent action; it is therefore especially adapted 
for use in cases of diarrhoeas caused by irritating sub- 
stances in the intestines, such as indigestible food, etc. 
Dose: 0.3 to 1.5 grams. 

The rhubarb described above is called Chinese, 
Shensi or East Indian Rhubarb. 

Russian Rhubarb is no longer found in the trade and 
is only of historical interest. It therefore needs no 
description here. 

Rhapontjc Rhubarb, also called Crimean Rhubarb, 
is the root of Bheum rhaponticum, which is a native of 
Western Asia, but is now also cultivated in Europe and 
in the United States, being known here as "pie plant." 
When the root is found in the trade it is usually in 
slender cylindrical pieces of an orange-red color, about 
ten to twelve cm. long and two cm. thick, resembling the 
official rhubarb in color, odor and taste, but being more 
astringent and mucilaginous, and less gritty. 



206 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



. European Rhubarb, from Bheum palmatum, B. rha- 
ponticum, B. compaction, R. undulatum, B. Emodi and 
other species of Bheum, is sometimes trimmed to re- 
semble Chinese rhubarb, but the taste is more mucilag- 
inous and less gritty. Seldom used. The leaf-stalks are 
used in Europe as we use them here, for cooking. 

Senega. 

N. Senega, Senega Snake-root. — o. The root of 
Polygala Senega; Polygalece. — H. Southern United 
States. — d. A fleshy, tapering, somewhat tortuous and 




slightly branched root, with a many-headed caudex often 
having the remains of numerous stems attached, of the 
size shown in the illustration, or frequently much 
smaller; deeply wrinkled and with a " keel " or promi- 
nent ridge in the concave parts of the bends of the roots, 
which constitutes a diagnostic feature ; externally yel- 
lowish-gray to yellowish-brown, internally pale yellow- 
ish-white; bark thick and wood-cylinder incomplete and 
irregularly excentric as shown in the drawings of sec- 
tions which were enlarged from actual specimens; odor 
slight but disagreeable and taste at first insipidly 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 207 

sweetish, afterwards acrid. — c. About five per cent 
polygalic acid, etc. — u. Stimulant and alterative blen- 
norrhetic and expectorant, acting especially on the 
bronchial mucous membranes. Dose: 0.5 to 1.5 grams. 
The above describes Southern Senega. Northern 
Senega, although from the same plant, is inferior; it is 
thicker, 
lighter col- 
ored, with- 
out keel 
and con- 
tains only 
three per 
cent of 
polygalic 
acid. Other 
(so - called 

" spurious") senegas are excluded 
by the official description. 

Gentiana. 

x. Gentian. — o. The root of 
Gentiana lutea; Gentianacece. — H. 
The mountainous regions of Central 
and Southern Europe. — D. A 
fleshy root, sometimes with a sev- 
eral-headed caudex, cylindrical, 
little branched, of various lengths 
up to 20 cm. long, about 25 milli- 
meters thick, annulate at the upper 
end, deeply wrinkled longitud- 
inally, occasionally split length- 
wise, dark 
brown ex- 
ternally 
and cinna- 
mon - col- 1 
ored in- 
ternally, 



208 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



breaking with abrupt brittle fracture in dry weather but 
somewhat flexible in damp weather, with a rather thick 
bark and a soft fleshy wood, without pith, and free from 
starch; odor faint and taste intensely and persistently 
bitter. — c. The amorphous glucoside gentiopicrin, gen- 
tisic acid, gentianose, pectin, etc. — u. A bitter tonic. 
Dose: 0.5 to 2 grams. 

Sometimes the roots of G. purpurea, G. punctata and 
G. pannonica are also gathered and mixed with the 
official drug. These roots are similar in action and in 
appearance to that of G. lutea and this admixture is not 
objectionable. 

Calumba. 

N. Calumba, Colombo. — o. The root of Jateorhiza 
palmata; Menispermaceoe. — h. Eastern Africa, especially 

Mozambique, 
where the plant 
grows wild; it is 
also cultivated 
in some of the 
East Indian 
Islands.— r>. The 
fresh large fleshy 
root is cut into 
transverse sec- 
tions which are 
circular or broad- 
ly elliptical, from three to six cm. in diameter and from 
eight to twelve m.m. thick, often depressed around the 
center which latter may however project as a nipple- 
like elevation ; the exterior surface is brownish-green, 
while the cut surfaces are yellowish-gray with a brighter 
yellow color in the bark under the epidermis, and with 
the cambium zone often distinctly marked by a brownish- 
gray line which is crossed by numerous more or less 
distinctly marked radiating lines; breaks with an abrupt 
brittle and mealy fracture ; odor slight and taste muci* 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



209 



laginous and bitter. Sometimes longer cylindrical or 
tapering pieces are found which are the branches or 
ends of the roots without being cut into transverse slices, 
but they are readiiy recognized as calumba by the resem- 
blance to the sections. — C. Columbin, berberine, etc. — 
U. Bitter tonic. Dose: 0.5 to 2 grams. 

Calumba must have a good bright color. Worm-eaten 
and dark or dirty-colored calumba is more common than 
the sound drug, and such inferior drug should be rejected. 
This drug is said to be occasionally adulterated with 
transverse slices of other roots, such as bryonia, etc., 
but it is doubtful whether such additions are practicable 
as they are too easily recognized by even a novice. 

Bryonia. 



N. Bryonia, Bryony. — o. The roots of Bryonia alba 
and of Bryonia dioica; Cucurbitacece. — H. Central and 
Southern Europe. — r>. Transverse sections, 3 to 6 cm. 
diameter, about 6 mm. 
thick, grayish-brown ex- 
ternally and the gray- 
ish-white cut surfaces 
marked with rough con- 
centric and radiating 
lines due to projecting 
fibro-vascular bundles; 
hard, breaking with 
abrupt, brittle and 
mealy fracture ; no odor 
but taste bitter and 
nauseous. — C. A bitter glucoside, bryonin, etc. — U. 
Hydragogue cathartic. Dose: 0.5 to I grams. 

The drug obtained from B. dioica is smoother and 
more mealy on its cut surfaces than that derived from 
B. alba. 

u 




210 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 




Althaea. 

N. Marshraallow Root. — o. The root of 
Alt hcea officinalis ; Malvaceae, — H. Europe, 
Western and Northern Asia; culti- 
vated in Europe; naturalized in United 
States. — d. Irregularly cylindrical or 
tapering pieces, 10 to 20 cm. long and 
about 10 to 15 ram. thick; deprived of 
the external bark; without rootlets, but 
with numerous round spots or root-scars; 
deeply wrinkled longitudinally; ex- 
ternally and Internally white, mealy and 
fibrous; fracture abrupt and mealy ; 
odor faintly aromatic and taste sweetish 
mucilaginous. —C. Asparagin, pectin, 
mucilage (35 per cent) and starch (35 per 
cent). — u. Demulcent. Dose: Ad libitum. 

As usually bought and sold by the 
retail pharmacist it is cut into small 
cubes (of about 3 or 4 mm. on each side) 
which are white, and readily recognized 
by the peculiar odor of the drug. A 
discolored or mouldy root, or one hav- 
ing a disagreeable or sourish odor or 
taste, must be rejected. 

" Young uncoated belladonna root 
resembles marshmallow; but is exter- 
nally not fibrous, and has yellow- 
ish wood-bundles or wood-wedges " 
(Maisch); but "uncoated " belladonna 
is not found in the trade and while the 
roots are somewhat similar, they are 
readily distinguished by their physical 
characteristics. 



Phytolaccae Radix. 

N. Poke Root. — o. The root of Phytolacca decandra; 
Phytolaccaceae. — n. Indigenous; naturalized in S. Europe 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



211 



and West Indies. — d. The root is a large fleshy, 
conical root, grayish- brown ex- 
ternally, whitish within, some- 
times as much as twenty cm. thick 
at the upper end and up to one-half 
meter long, with many heads to 
which remnants of hollow stems 
containing transverse shreds of 
pith are attached. A transverse 
section shows the fibro-vascular 
bundles to be arranged in irregu- 
larly concentric circles, as shown 
in the drawing of a microscopical 
section of a small piece; this 
arrangement of the bundles ex- 
plains the appearance of the drug 
as found in the trade, for when 
dry the parenchyma shrinks more 
than the bundles and becomes light 
brownish-gray while the bundles 
remain white, and project above the shrunken paren- 
chyma. In the trade the root is found in transverse or 
1 ongitudinal 
slices to some 
of which por- 
tions of t h e 
hollow stems 
remain at- 
tached ; one 
of these draw- 
ings is of a 

small transverse slice as it appeared in 
the evening with the light falling on it 
obliquely, thus illuminating the projecting lines of 
fibro-vascular bundles, deepening the tints of the 
parenchyma by the strong shadows, thus exaggerating 
the contrast in color but showing the relief more 
clearly; the right hand figure illustrates a small frag- 





212 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



ment of a longitudinal slice; the drug is hard and breaks 
with a fibrous fracture; odor, none; taste sweetish 
acrid. — c. No active principle has been isolated but the 
action probably depends on an undetermined glucoside. — 
u. Has been highly recommended as an alterative ant- 
arthritic in rheumatism, and as a solvent in inflamma- 
tion and threatened abscess of the breast. Dose: 0.05 
to 1 gram; in overdoses it is poisonous. 



N. Yellow 



Rum ex. 

Dock, Radix Lapathi. —o. The root of 
Bumex crispus 
and of other 
varieties of Bu- 
mex ; Polygo- 
n a c e cz . — H . 
Europe; na- 
turalized in 
North America. 
— D. Along, ta- 
pering, simple 
fleshy root with 
but few root- 
fibers, some- 
times somewhat 
fusiform, an- 
nulate above, 
deeply wrinkled 
below; gener- 
ally broken as 
in the drawing 
which is about 
five-sixths natu- 
ral size, the 
tough fibrous 
wood bundles, 
especially in the 
larger and older 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



21c 



roots, holding the broken parts together; ten to thirty 
em. long and twelve to fifteen mm. thick; externally 
brown or reddish-brown, internally somewhat horny and 
dingy brownish-yellow; stains the saliva yellow; little 
or no odor and a bitter astringent taste. — C. Tannin, 
chrysophanicacid, etc. — u. Alterative, astringent, tonic. 
Dose : 2 to 5 grams. 

Symphytum. 
N. Symphytum, Comfrey. — o The root of Symphytum 
officinale; Boraginece. — H. Europe and United States. — 
D. The nearly simple 
root is up to fifteen 
cm. long and from 
eight to twenty mm. 
thick, the larger pieces 
often split lengthwise, 
very hard, wrinkled, 
somewhat twisted, 
blackish-brown exter- 
nally and whitish 
within; breaks with 
an abrupt, somewhat 
brittle fracture, the 
broken end appearing 
whitish and horny : 
odorless, and taste 
sweetish, mucilagi- 
nous and slightly 
astringent. — C. Muci- 
lage, asparagin, tannic 
acid, etc. — U. Demul- 
cent and slightly 
astringent. Dose : 5 
to 15 grams per day 

Saponaria. 

N. Saponaria, Soapwort. — o. The root of Saponaria 
officinalis; Caryophyllece. — H. Europe and America. — 




214 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



D. Cylindrical, about twenty-five cm. long but usually 
broken into shorter lengths, the older roots up to 

twelve mm. or more 
in thickness ; formerly 
the roots from older 
plants were more 
common than at pres- 
ent, and these were 
marked with distinct 
annual layers, but now 
the thin roots from 
one-year-old plants are 
preferred and these 
appear as in the draw- 
ings, from two or 
three to twelve mm. 
thick, rusty or reddish 
brown externally, 
hard, with abrupt 
fracture, the section 
showing a thick whit- 
ish bark and a delicate 
brownish cambium 
zone surrounding a 
pale yellowish w 7 ood 
w i t h o u t radiating 
markings; no odor 
and a somewhat bitter 
and afterwards acrid 
taste. The smaller 
roots are to be pre- 
ferred and large and woody roots should be rejected. — C. 
Saponin, etc. — U. Alterative diaphoretic; used similarly 
to Sarsaparilla in chronic skin diseases, etc. Dose : 25 
to 50 grams during the day, in infusion. 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



215 




Lappa. 

N. Burdock, Radix Bar- 
danae. — o. The root of 
Arctium Lappa and of 
some other species of 
Arctium; Compositae. — 
H. Europe and Northern t 
Asia; naturalized in 
North America. — l>. A 
simple, fleshy, fusifoini 
root about thirty cm. 
long to three cm. thick; 
crowned with a tuft of whitish, soft, hairy leaf-stalks; ex- 
ternally grayish-brown and internally paler brown; frac- 
ture somewhat horny; bark thick and with occasional 
spaces containing a whitish felt-like mass of broken- 
down tissue, the cambium zone dark-colored, wood ra- 
diate and the center having spurious pith or cavities filled 
with a similar white tissue-debris as is found in the 
spaces in the bark; odor faint but disagreeable, and taste 
sweetish-bitter and mucilaginous. The root usually 
comes into trade split lengthwise, so that the glistening 
wmite spurious pith becomes a characteristic and diag- 
nostic feature. — c. Inulin (no starch), mucilage, bitter 
extractive, etc. — u. Diaphoretic, diuretic and alterative. 
Dose: One to five grams. 



Alkarina. 

N. Alkanet. — o. The root of Alkanna tincioria; Bora- 
gineae. — H. Southeast Europe and Western Asia. — d. A 
long, fleshy, cylindrical, slightly branched root with a sev- 
eral or many-headed caudex to which tufts of leaf-bases 
remain attached, usually broken in pieces about ten cm. 
long and finger-thick, most of the thickness consisting in 
the dry drug of a thick bark, the outer layers of which are 
foliaceous or torn into many shreds, which are but loosely 
adherent to each other and to the inner bark and wood, 



216 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



which latter is also often torn into its separate bundles 
during drying; the bark and medullary rays are dark pur- 
plish-violet in color, while the wood-bundles are yellowish, 
all parts being readily friable ; little or no taste or odor. — 
c. Alkannin, a deep red coloring matter which is soluble 
in alcohol, oils, fats, etc., but insoluble in water. — u. For 
coloring hair- oils, pomades and other fatty preparations. 
As the coloring matter is mainly found in the bark, the 
value of the drug depends on the proportion of bark pres- 
ent, and as this is sometimes sold separately, a drug con- 
sisting to any undue extent of the wood-bundles should 
be rejected. 

Frasera. 

n. Frasera, American Colombo, American Gentian. — 




o. The root of Frasera Walteri; Gentianacece. — h. 
United States, AUeghanies and westward. — D. A large 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 217 

fleshy root which formerly was sometimes cut into trans- 
verse slices resembling Calumba (whence the name 
American Colombo), but is now usually split in longi- 
tudinal slices, as shown in the illustration in natural 
size, annulate above, wrinkled longitudinally below, 
brown externally, light yellowish-brown within, odor 
reminding of gentian, taste sweetish and afterwards 
bitter. — c. Similar to those of gentian, gentiopicrin, etc. — 
U. Bitter tonic. Dose : One to five grams. 

RHIZOMES. 

Rhizomes are underground stems, distinguished from 
roots by having nodes and internodes which are absent 
in roots; they may vary in length, some being creeping 
and often quite long, others being short and compact; 
some come into trade with the roots (usually simple 
"rootlets") attached, some without the roots; these 
rootlets are in some attached all around and along the 
full length, in some only on the under side, and in 
others only at the nodes, and when they are broken off 
the resulting scars are often characteristic and aid in the 
recognition of the drug. The remains of leaves or stems 
are often attached to the upper or growing end of 
rhizomes. We group the commercial drugs of this class, 
first, according to their most striking peculiarity, the 
presence or absence of rootlets, then according to struc- 
ture (acrogenous, endogenous, exogenous, or with or 
without ducts, as the case may be) and to some extent 
according to shape (long or short). 

Rhizomes are generally spoken of in the trade as 
"roots," but while there may be no serious objection to 
the continuance of this practice, yet the difference be- 
tween roots and rhizomes must of course be always 
remembered by the student of pharmacognosy, as other- 
wise the confusion of terms may seriously interfere with 
the ready recognition of the respective drugs. 

When grouping according to presence or absence of 
rootlets we must remember that when drugs are gathered 



218 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

by savage or barbarous people, these people do things in 
a routine manner and do not deviate from the methods 
of their ancestors, and such drugs are gathered, cut, dried 
and put up for the trade as they have been for genera- 
tions or perhaps for centuries; thus calumba always was 
and still is cut into transverse slices. On the other hand, 
civilized people vary the methods of trimming, often in an 
arbitrary or capricious manner, as when veratrum viride 
is sometimes whole with rootlets, sometimes without 
rootlets, or sometimes cut longitudinally into halves or 
quarters or sliced transversely into sections. So it hap- 
pens that while a diug may be classed as a rhizome with 
rootlets, it may occasionally be found without rootlets, 
or vice versa; yet in most cases the drugs are as is here- 
with explained and deviations are exceptional. 

/ Monocotyledonous 22 

fWith rootlets I ( With ducts*. .. .23 

(Dicotyledonous I _„.. , . 

J f Without ducts*.24 

Cryptogamous 25 

Monocotyledonous } s " 6 

Without rootlets <j (short 27 

Dicotyledonous } long 28 

. I short 29 



GROUP XXII. 

MONOCOTYLEDONOUS KHIZOMKS WITH ROOTLETS. 

Endogenous or monocotyledonous rhizomes, whether 
with or without rootlets, are readily recognized by the 
manner of distribution of flbro-vascular bundles, as well 
as by the nucleus sheath when the latter is present, as 
has already been described. 

Grayish or brownish, deeply-wrink- 
led roots, often over one meter 
long, folded back over a compact 

rhizome Sarsaparilla. 

* Oil, resin or latex ducts, spaces or large cells. 



Rhizomes <! 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 219 

Obconical, blackish-gray with shriv- 
eled, lighter colored rootlets Veratrum Viride. 

Thin, branched, straw-colored or 
pale yellowish, with hair-like 

rootlets at nodes Convallaria. 

Jointed, deeply- wrinkled, flattish, 
grayish- brown, annulated with 
darker colored markings .... .... iris Versicolor. 

Obconical to sub-globular, annu- 
late, orange-brown Trillium. 

Obconical, grayish-brown, with 
rootlets on upper part; whitish 

Within Dracontiuni. 

Bent, orange-brown, with many 
stem-scars above and wavy root- 
lets below Cypripediuni. 

Whole, or longitudinal slices, yel- 
lowish-brown, whitish within, 

annulate Polygouatum. 

Much branched and curved; pale 
brown, very hard and tough Dioscorea. 

Sub-cylindrical, curved, grayish- 
brown with tough, wiry rootle ts.Heionias. 

Cylindrical, covered with tufts of 
leaf-bases and numerous pale-col- 
ored and soft rootlets Aletris. 

Flattish-cylindrical, reddish-brown, 
with root-scars in wavy lines on 
under side Calamus. 

Sarsaparilla. 

The various kinds of Sarsaparilla have been fully de- 
scribed in Group XVI, where they properly belong, as the 
roots alone are directed to be used, and where descrip- 
tions will be found. Mexican and Jamaica Sarsa- 
parillas usually consist of the rootlets attached to the 
"chumps " or rhizomes, and therefore might naturally 
be looked for here, wherefore they must be mentioned. 



220 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Veratrum Viride. 

N. Veratrum, American Hellebore. — o. The rhizome 
and rootlets of Veratrum viride; Liliacece. — H. North 
America. — D. Upright obconical rhizome, from three to 
eight cm. long and two to ^ve cm. thick, often crowned 
with concentric layers of leaf -bases, externally blackish- 




gray and covered with light-brown deeply-wrinkled root- 
lets up to ten or more cm. long and two mm. thick, from 
which the bark can be readily torn, showing an almost 
white fibrous wood ; sometimes the rhizome is cut into 
halves longitudinally, as shown in one of the figures,- or 
it may occasionally occur in transverse sections, or even 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 221 

without rootlets, although this is more rarely the case; 
it is without odor but is a powerful sternutatory when 
the powder is inhaled; the taste is bitter and acrid. — C. 
Jervine, veratroidine, etc. — U. Sedative and antispas- 
modic, especially in puerperal convulsions; emetic, dia- 
phoretic, and errhine. Dose: 0.1 to 0,3 gram, best 
given as fluid extract or tincture. 

While generally considered a dangerous or even poi- 
sonous remedy, it is claimed that no fatal effects have 
ever been observed from an overdose. Antidotal treat- 
ment should consist of emesis (usually effected by the 
drug itself), stimulants, warm applications, etc. 

Veratrum Album, or White Veratrum, is a European 
variety of this drug, which is similar to the American 
drug in appearance as well as in action, and is used for 
the same purposes. 

Convallaria. 

N. Convallaria, Lily of the Valley Root. — O. The rhi- 
zome of Convallaria majalis; Liliacece. — H. Northern 
temperate zone; cultivated in gardens, — r>. The drug 
consists of a tangled or matted mass of pale straw- 
colored or yellowish, but not glossy, rhizomes and 
rootlets; the rhizomes sometimes branched, but usually 




simple, often with the growing'end thickened and annular 
and crowned with a mass of soft, , whitish, threadlike 
hairs (the remnants of leaf bases) ; this thicker end con- 
tracts either abruptly or tapers to a thin rhizome, which 
is lighter- colored than the thick end and slightly 
wrinkled longitudinally; from five to ten cm. long 
and two to three mm. thick, with internodes from 



222 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

two to five cm. long, and with a few thin, almost 
threadlike rootlets attached at the slightly thickened 
nodes or joints; the fracture is tough and 
fibrous and the interior is white ; the drug 
has no odor, and the taste is bitter and 
slightly acrid. — c. Convallarin, convalla- 
marin, etc. — u. Heart tonic, especially 
useful in cardiac dropsies; in overdoses 
poisonous. Dose: 0.5 to 2 grams daily. 

Iris Versicolor. 

N. Blue Flag.-— o. The rhizome of Iris 
versicolor; Iridece. — H. In swampy locali- 
ties in North America. — D. In pieces of 
various lengths, sometimes branched, but 
usually simple; internodes five to ten 
cm. long, cylindrical at the older end and 
flattish at the growing end, where the 
numerous long, simple rootlets are attached 
when present; the upper (growing) end is 
marked with a circular stem-scar, the 
nodes with small circular root-scars when 
the roots are absent, and the whole length 
is marked by alternate lighter and darker- 
colored annular markings due to the leaf- 
scars, as shown in the illustration which 
shows a piece of the drug without rootlets ; 
the fracture is somewhat spongy or abrupt, 
the section showing a nucleus sheath wlrch 
surrounds most of the wood-bundles ; nearly 
inodorous, and taste acrid and nauseous. — 
C. Acrid resin, etc. — U. Emetico- cathartic 
in large doses; in medicinal doses hydra- 
gogue cathartic, cholagogue, diuretic and 
alterative, Dose: 0.5 to 1 gram. This 
drug is often found in the trade without 
rootlets, and it is therefore also mentioned 
under Group X^XVI. A lot of well-cleaned 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



223 



rootless blue-flag looks more attractive, although there is 
probably no preference from a therapeutical standpoint. 



Trillium . 

jn". Beth-root, Birth-root. — o. 
The rhizome of Trillium erectum 
and other varieties of Trillium; 
Liliacece. — H. United States. — ». 
Obconical to subglobuiar, often 
somewhat flattened, from two to 
five cm. long, shaped as shown in 
the drawing; annulate, with the 
few and short rootlets attached 
near the upper end, which is sometimes tufted with kaf- 
remnants; externally light yellowish-brown, internally 
whitish, inodorous and taste somewhat astringent, after- 
wards bitter and acrid. — C. Acrid glucoside, etc. — u. 
Used in genito-urinary troubles, as menorrhagia, leu- 
corrhcea, etc.; emmenagogue and emetic. Dose: Two to 
five grams. 

Dracontium. 





N. Skunk Cabbage.— O. The rhizome of Dracontium 
fcetidum (Symplocarpus fetidus); Aroidece.— H. North 



224 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

America. — r>. From five to ten cm. long and half as 
wide, obconical, shaped as shown in the drawing; the 
upper end usually has concentrically arranged leaf- 
remnants and numerous long, shriveled and deeply 
wrinkled rootlets attached, but these roots are often cut 
from the rhizomes and either come loose and separate in 
the bales or are absent; the drug is grayish-brown ex- 
ternally and whitish within, but when it comes cut into 
slices or into longitudinal quarters, which is frequently 
the case, the cut surfaces on drying also appear grayish; 
the odor reminds one of a polecat, whence the name of 
the drug, and the taste is pungent and acrid. — C. Resin, 
an acrid volatile principle (the latter not isolated), etc. 
— U. Stimulant and antispasmodic; used in hysteria, 
etc. Dose: 0.5 to 2 grams. 

Cypripedium. 

N. American Valerian, Lady's Slipper; commonly, but 
erroneously, called Ladies' Slipper. — o. Rhizome and 
roots of Cypripedium pubescens and C. parviflorum; 




Orchidece. — H. United States. — d. The rhizome is usu- 
ally curved or bent, beset with numerous long wavy 
rootlets which become entangled so that the drug is a 
matted mass; in the illustration most of the rootlets are 
represented as removed, to show the nature of the 
rhizome, which is marked on its upper side with numer- 
ous circular cup-shaped but very shallow stem-scars, 
which are about as far apart from the edge of one to the 
edge of the other, as the diameter of such a scar; the 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 225 

rhizome is from five to ten cm. long and about three mm. 
thick, and the rootlets are up to twenty cm. long and about 
1.5 mm. thick; dark-brown to light orange-brown; frac- 
ture brittle, showing yellowish-white within; a faint but 
sickening odor and a sweetish-bitter and slightly pungent 
taste. — C. No active principle has been isolated; fixed 
oils, resins, etc. — u. Diaphoretic, antispasmodic and 
nervine. Dose: 0.5 to 2 grams. 

According to Maisch the rhizome of C. pubescens is 
the longer of the two rhizomes and is usually bent with 
a shallow curve, depressed in the middle so as to make 
a U-shaped curve; this may be remembered by thinking of 
the first letters which diSier in the names of the two 
drugs, Cypripedium pubescens having a u where Cypripe- 
dium parviflorum has an a. The rhizome of the latter 
plant is contorted, often bent at right angles, or with an 
upward curve. In both the rootlets spring from all sides 
of the rhizome but bend abruptly downward, hiding the 
rhizome, so that to examine the latter the rootlets must 
be removed as was done prior to making the illustration. 

Polygon atum . 




N. Solomon's Seal.— o. The rhizomes of several va- 
rieties of Polygonatum, Polygonatum gigantewn, P. 

15 



226 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



biflorum, P. multiflorum, and P. uniflorum; Li- 
Itaceae.—n. The first two are indigenous, the third 
grows in Europe and America, and the last men- 
tioned is a European plant. — d. The drug varies in 
size as it comes from one or -another of these plants, 
but is always a rhizome with nodes, on the upper 

side of which are de- 
pressed stem-scars which 
resemble the impressions 
of a seal, wherefore the 
drug is called "Solomon's 
Seal." A common form 
of the drug is as in the 
drawing, the upper figure 
of which shows the shape 
of the fresh rhizome re- 
duced, but which is in 
reality about fifteen cm. 
long and up to four or 
five cm. broad, but in 
the drug is usually sliced 
longitudinally as shown 
in the low r er figures ; each 
joint is marked with a 
stem-scar ; the outer sur- 
face is yellowish-brown, 
the interior is whitish; 
the fracture is abrupt 
and somewhat spongy, 
showing 
the wood- 
bundles 
mostly i n 
the center, 
but with- 
out the 
nucle us 

DlOSCOREA. 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



227 



sheath; odor none and taste mucilaginous, bitter 
and slightly acrid. Another much smaller form 
is one in which the rhizome is also about fifteen cm. 
long, but only about five mm. thick, not sliced, but 
in other regards similar to the above described varie- 
ty. — c. Convallarin, asparagin, mucilage, etc. — u. 
Said to exert a special action on relaxed mucous 
membranes, as in leucorrhcea, etc. Dose: One to 
two grams, preferably in the form of fluid extract. 

Dioscorea. 
N. Wild Yam. — o. The rhizome of Dioscorea vil~ 
losa; Dioscoracece. — h. United States. — d. The shape 
and size of the drug are well represented in the 
drawing; crooked, branched, somewhat flattened, 
with few rootlets; very hard and tough, but breaks 
with an abrupt, somewhat fibrous fracture; pale- 
brown externally and white within, with yellowish 
wood-bundles; odorless, and taste insipidly mucil- 
aginous, but developing a slight acridity after chew- 
ing for a little while. — c. An acrid principle re- 
sembling saponin, resin, etc. — u. Said to be anti- 
spasmodic, useful in bilious colic, cholera morbus, 
etc. Dose: 0.5 to 2 grams. (See cut on page 226). 

Helonias. 

N. False Unicorn Root. 
— o. The rhizome of 
Chamcelirium lut eum 
{Helonias dioica) ; Lilia- 
\ceae.—n. North America. 
— D. Cylindrical, curved, 
with stem-scars on upper 
surface and occasionally 
with leaf - remnants at 
growing end, closely an- 
nulate in small pieces 
and more coarsely an- 
nulate in larger speci- 




228 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



mens, beset with long, wiry rootlets, which, how- 
ever, are sometimes wanting in the drug ; from two 
to seven cm. long and five to twenty mm. thick; 
externally dark grayish-brown, internally whitish 
and horny; fracture abrupt, showing numerous 
wood-bundles near center; odor peculiar, though 
weak, but readily perceived when the drug is bruised, 
and the taste bitter and acrid. — c. Chamaelirin, etc . 
— U. Tonic, diuretic and anthelmintic. Dose: One 
to four grams. 

Aletris. 

n. Aletris, Uni- 
corn Eoot. — o. The 
rhizome of Aletris 
farinosa; Hcemo- 
do ra ce a e . — H. 
United States. — d. 
The rhizome is 
about two to three 
cm. long and three 
to ten mm. thick, 
indistinctly joiut- 
ed, with loose tufts 
of leaves and be- 
set with numerous 
light grayish-yel- 
low fibrous root- 
lets; externally 
grayish-brown, in- 
ternally white , 
breaking with a 
mealy, somewhat 
fibrous fracture ; 
odor none, and 
taste bitter. — c. 
A bitter principle.— u. Bitter tonic and stomachic; 
reputed to be a tonic to the uterus, counteracting a 
tendency to miscarriage. Dose: 0.5 to 1 gram. 




NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 229 

Calamus. 

Calamus, which usually comes into trade with the 
rootlets removed, is occasionally found with the root- 
lets attached, and would then be looked for in this 
group of drugs. The student is referred to Group 
XXYI for a description of this drug. 

GROUP XXIII. 

DICOTYLEDONOUS RHIZOMES WITH ROOTLETS; WITH DUCTS 
OR OIL CELLS. 

Dicotyledonous or exogenous rhizomes are recog- 
nizable by the arrangement of their fibro-vascular 
bundles; the word "duct" is used in this book to 
include oil, resin or latex ducts, spaces or large 
(special) cells. Of the three drugs mentioned in this 
group, one, Arnica Root, has large ducts, which are 
very readily recognizable, but in Serpentaria and 
Valerian the oil-cells are not very markedly larger 
than the other parenchyma cells, and although readily 
seen while still containing the oil, are not easily dis- 
tinguished after the cell-contents have been removed, 
as is usually the case in finished slides, and therefore 
Valerian and Serpentaria are also mentioned in the 
next group. 

Small, hard, dark-brown, curved rhiz- 
ome; rootlets all on lower side; a ring 

Of ductS in the Section Arnica. 

Short, thick, upright rhizome, with many 
rootlets ; with characteristic odor Valeriana. 

Thin, small rhizome, with remains of 
stems on upper side, and many rootlets 

On lower side Serpentaria. 

Arnicae Radix. 

N. Arnica Eoot. — o. The rhizome and rootlets of 
Arnica montana; Composites. — h. Europe, Asia and 




230 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

North America. — d. The drug consists of a tangled 
mass of rhizomes and rootlets ; the rhizome is curved 
or contorted, up to five cm. long and two to three 
mm. thick, usually crowned with a tuft of leaf 

remnants, hard, 
^?T^. brittle, wrinkled, 
i| annulate and 
nodulate with 
stem- remnants 
and leaf-scars, 
and the under 
side beset with 
numerous hard, 
brittle rootlets, 
which are up to 
eight cm. long, 
and less than one 
mm. thick ; the 
color of the rhizome is dark brown externally, with 
whitish bark and yellowish wood within, and with 
a large whitish pith; in the inner layer of the 
bark, surrounding the cambium, there is a circle 
of large resin-ducts and a similar circle of resin- 
ducts occurs in the rootlets; the odor is peculiar, 
aromatic, and the taste is acrid, aromatic and 
somewhat bitter. The illustration shows the rhiz- 
ome in natural size, sections of the rhizome in 
natural size and enlarged in the upper part and a 
section of a rootlet in the lower part of the drawing. — 
C. Resins, volatile oil, etc. — u. Stimulant and vul- 
nerary. Dose : 0.5 to 2 scrams. 

Valeriana. 

N. Valerian. — o. The rhizome and rootlets of Va- 
leriana officinalis; Valerianece. — h. Europe and 
North Asia ; cultivated in New England, especially in 
Vermont. — d. The rhizome is short, thick, upright, 
two to four cm. long, and one to two cm. thick, 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 231 

crowded with stem and leaf remnants, dark brown 
externally, brownish or grayish-brown, and some- 
what horny within; beset with numerous deeply- 
wrinkled, brownish rootlets, five to ten cm. long and 
about two mm. thick, which are often twisted or 




sometimes braided into a conical or tapering compact 
cluster; the parenchyma cells of the bark and pith 
contain mainly starch, but some of them contain oil ; 
in the bark and in the medullary rays are also larger 
oil-cells or glands, but in the sections from which the 
cell-contents have been removed these oil-cells are 
not readily to be distinguished from the starch-cells, 
and the drug is therefore also enumerated in the next 
group ; the odor is peculiar, exerting aphrodisiac ef- 
fects on cats, and the taste is bitterish camphoraceous. 
— C. Volatile oil, valerianic acid, etc.— u. Stimulant, 
nervine, antispasmodic. Dose : One to five grams. 

A smaller variety of this drug which grows in dry 
mountainous regions is considered to be best ; a 
larger variety, which grows in moist lowlands, is often 



232 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



cut into longitudinal halves, the inner surface then 
appearing concave on drying; this is considered to 
be inferior. 

Serpentaria. 
N. Serpentaria, Virginia Snake Eoot. — o. The rhi- 
zome and rootlets of Aristolochia Serpentaria and A, 
reticulata; Aristolochiacece. — h. United States. — D. A 
thin horizontal rhizome, one to two cm. long and two 
mm. thick, curved, with the upper side closely beset 




with short stem-remnants and the under side with 
many pale-brown, brittle rootlets, five to ten cm. long 
and less than one mm. thick ; externally pale-brown 
and whitish within ; fracture abrupt, smooth, showing 
excentric wood with small pith; the fundamental 
tissue consists of parenchyma containing starch and 
in the bark are large oil-cells, but these cells are not 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 233 

sufficiently different from the adjoining starch-cells to 
be readily recognized when the sections have been 
cleared by removal of cell-contents, and this drug is 
therefore also mentioned in the next group ; the odor 
reminds of a mixture of camphor and turpentine and 
the taste is bitterish camphoraceous. — c. Aristolo- 
chine, volatile oil, etc.— u. Stimulant, useful in ty- 
phoid conditions. Dose : 0.5 to 4 grams. 

The illustrations show the rhizome, whole and 
longitudinal section, after soaking in w T ater, and the 
transverse sections of rhizome (above) and of a rootlet 
(below). 

The rootlets of A, reticulata are said to be coarser, 
longer and less interlaced than those of A. serpen- 
taria. Spigelia resembles Serpentaria, but is nearly 
black and has circular stem-scars instead of stem- 
remnants. Other admixtures are readily excluded by 
the description of the drug. 

GROUP XXIV. 

DICOTYLEDONOUS RHIZOMES WITH ROOTLETS; WITHOUT 
DUCTS OR OIL CELLS. 

The drugs of this group resemble those of the last 

group, except that they have no latex, oil or resin 

ducts, spaces or large cells. 

Short, thick, upright rhizome with 
many rootlets ; with character- 
istic odor Valeriana. 

Thin, small rhizome with remains 
of stems on upper side, and 
many rootlets on lower side . . . Serpentaria. 

Small, thin, knotty rhizomes, with 
many brittle rootlets, bright 
yellow within Hydrastis. 

Irregular, knotty, brownish-black 
rhizomes, w T ith many rootlets 
which have from 3 to 6 radiat- 
ing bundles Cimicifuga. 



234 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Small, knotty rhizome, with sev- 
eral stem-scars and numerous 
long rootlets ; grayish-brown. . . Spigelia. 

Hard, irregular, bent and knotty 
rhizome, with broad stem-scars 
and numerous rootlets ; yellow- 
ish-brown Caulophyllum. 

Rhizome a meter or more long, 
with small rootlets ; brown or 
yellowish-brown Menispermum. 

Knotty, many-headed caudex 
with many rootlets ; grayish or 
yellowish-brown externally and 
with white wood Asclepias Incarnata. 

Blackish-brown, branched and 
flattened rhizome, with many 
and long nearly black rootlets . Leptandra. 

Thin, long, more or less contorted 
rhizomes; purplish-brown ex- 
ternally and whitish within. . .Asarum. 

Much contorted, tough, knotty 
rhizomes, with several stems and 
more or less contorted roots; 
light-brown externally and 
white within Gillenia. 

Knotty, scaly and wrinkled rhi- 
zome, with rootlets on under 
side ; brownish externally and 
whitish within Geum. 

Very hard, knotty and irregularly 
branched rhizomes, with thin 
and brittle rootlets; grayish- 
brown Collinsonia. 

Valeriana. 

This drug has already been described in Group 23, 
and the reasons were there stated why it is also men- 
tioned here. 





NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 235 

Serpentaria. 

See Group 23 for a description of this drug. 
Hydrastis. 

X. Hydrastis, Golden Seal. — 
O. The rhizome and rootlets of 
Hydrastis Ca?iade?isis; Ranun- 
culacecz. — H. ]Sorth America. — 
D. Short, thin rhizomes, with 
many brittle rootlets, a large 
portion of the drug often con- 
sisting of broken rootlets mixed 
with dust or dirt ; the rhizome 
is usually of the shape and size as shown 
in the illustration, or even thinner, but is 
officially described as being much larger, 
but pieces of the size described in the 
U. S. Pharmacopoeia are very seldom 
found, if they occur at all ; the rhizome 
is wrinkled longitudinally and beset with stem- 
remnants ending with a cup-shaped scar and with 
many very thin rootlets which may be up to 10 cm. 
long, but are usually much shorter on account of 
being broken; the color is brownish externally; 
fracture abrupt, waxy, gamboge-colored or reddish- 
yellow; the section of the rhizome is as shown 
in the drawing, all the fundamental tissue being 
of a yellow color; odor is slight but characteristic 
and the taste is bitter and slightly astringent. — 
C. Berberine, hydrastine, etc. — u. Bitter tonic and al- 
terative. Much used as an alterative local application 
for relaxed mucous membranes. Dose : 0.5 to 2 grams. 

Ciniicifuga. 
N. Cimicifuga, Black Cohosh, Black Snakeroot. — O. 
The rhizome and rootlets of Cimicifuga racemosa; 
Ranunculacecz. — ©. The rhizome is a rough, irregular, 
knobby, hard, many -headed caudex, up to 2 or 2.5 
cm. thick and of various lengths, with several stem- 



236 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

remnants with cup-shaped scars and numerous brittle 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



237 



rootlets ; externally blackish-brown and grayish with- 
in, the rootlets being darker colored or almost black ; 
the rootlets break with an abrupt fracture, showing a 
dark bark and a woody 3 to 6-rayed cord, as shown in 
the small sections and in the larger drawing of a 
microscopical section ; odor none, and taste acrid and 
bitter. — C. The active principle is probably an amor- 
phous resin. — TJ* Alterative, anti-neuralgic, sedative; 
useful in painful disturbances of the menstrual func- 
tions. Dose : 0.5 to 2 grams. 

Spigelia. 
N. Spigelia. Pinkroot. — o. 
The rhizome and rootlets of 
Spigelia Marilandica; Logani- 
acecz. — h. United States. — d. 
The rhizome is small, knotty, 
bent, somewhat flattened from 
the sides, about 3 to 5 cm. long, 
4 mm. thick and 3 mm. wide, 
at the growing end sometimes 
branched or many-headed, with 
round scars on the upper side 
and closely beset below with 
numerous, thin and brittle root- 
lets which are about 10 cm. 
long ; the rhizome is purplish-brown or blackish-gray 
externallv and the rootlets are somewhat lighter-col- 
ored ; fracture of the rhizome is abrupt, showing brown 
bark and whitish wood, the latter being horse-shoe 
shaped, or thicker below, and with a brown, horny 
pith, while the rootlets have a central wood-cylinder 
and a brown, horny bark ; the odor is slightly aro- 
matic and the taste is sweetish-bitter and pungent. — 
C. Volatile oil, resin, bitter substance, etc. — U- Am- 
thelmintic ; to avoid toxic effects it is safe to combine 
it with a cathartic, as in the popular combination of 
Pinkroot and Senna. Dose : 2 to 5 grams. 




238 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

The U. S. Pharmacopoeia adds a caution: "Spigelia 
should not be confounded with the underground por- 
tion of Phlox Carolina, the roots of which are brown- 
yellow, rather coarse, straight, and contain a straw- 
colored wood underneath a readily removable bark." 

Caulophyllum. 

n. Blue Cohosh, 
Squaw Root. — o. The 
rhizome and rootlets 
of Caulophyllum tha- 
lidroides; Berberi- 
decz. — h. N.United 
States and Canada. — 
D. The drug consists 
of a matted and tan- 
gled mass of rhizomes 
and rootlets ; the rhi- 
zome is hard, irregu- 
lar, bent and knotty, 
up to 10 cm. long and 
6 to 10 mm. thick, with short, knotty branches marked 
with broad saucer-shaped stem-scars, the terminal 
joint sometimes enclosed in a yellowish-white net- 
work of remains of fibrovascular bundles; the root- 
lets, of which but a few are shown in the drawing, 
are very numerous, abo,ut 10 to 12 cm. long and 1 mm. 
thick, tough, fibrous, and tangled or matted ; rhizome 
grayish-brown externally, fracture abrupt, showing a 
whitish interior, the bark thin, the medullary rays 
and pith large, and the wood-bundles thin, in a cir- 
cle ; the rootlets have a central wood-cylinder and a 
relatively thick bark ; odor slight or none, and taste 
sweetish with slightly acrid after-taste. — c. Leontin 
(a glucoside?), resins, etc. — u. Antispasmodic, diu- 
retic, emmenagogue and parturient. Dose: 1 to 2 
grams. 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



239 



Menispermum. 

N. Yellow Parilla.— o. The rhizomes and rootlets 




of Menispermum Canadense; Menispermacece. — h. 




240 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Canada and E. United States. — b. Nearly cylindrical 
rhizomes, often a meter or more in length and usually 
rolled into bundles, as shown in the drawing, such 
bundles being of variable size, up to 10 or 15 cm. 
thick, or, more rarely, wound in balls ; the rhizome 
is about 5 mm. thick, brown or yellowish-brown, 
longitudinally finely w T rinkled and with numerous 
thin and brittle rootlets ; the fracture is tough and 
woody ; the interior is yellowish, and a section shows 
about fourteen or fifteen porous wood-bundles, ar- 
ranged slightly excentrically with the longer bundles 
on the under side, distinct pith and medullary rays ; 
odor none and taste bitter. — c. Berberine, an amor- 
phous alkaloid, etc. — u. Supposed to resemble sarsa- 
parilla in medicinal properties, alterative and tonic. 
Dose: 1 to 4 grams. Occasionally the stem is found 
in the trade, in similar bundles ; the stem is much 
thicker than the rhizome, and gray, not brown. 

Asclepias Incarnata. 

N. White Indian Hemp, Swamp Milkweed. — o. 
The rhizome and rootlets of Asclepias incarnata; 




Asclepiadacece, — h. North America. — x>. The rhi- 
zome is many-headed, with remains of hollow stems, 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



241 



about 1 to 2 cm. thick, knotty, with a thin yellowish- 
brown bark and hard, white wood, and a brownish 
pith and beset with many light-grayish-brown root- 
lets ; the rootlets are about 10 to 12 cm. long, some- 
what more than 1 mm. thick and with the bark and 
central wood-cylinder of about equal thickness ; the 
first illustration shows the whoxe drug with the root- 
lets, reduced to about two-thirds natural size (linear), 
and the second illustration shows a piece of rhizome, 




with most of the rootlets broken off ; no odor, taste 

sweetish-bitter and acrid. — c. Acrid resins, a gluco- 

side, etc. — u. Alterative, diuretic, diaphoretic; in 

large doses, emetic and cathartic. Dose : 0.5 to 2.5 

grams. 

Leptandra. 

X. Culver's Eoot, Cul- 
ver's Physic. — o. The 
rhizome and rootlets o^ 
Leptandra Vi rg i nica; 
S crophul arinece. — h. 
North America. — r>. The 
rhizome is from 10 to 15 
cm. long, about 5 mm. 
thick, slightly flattened, 
bent and branched, deep 
blackish-brown, with 
cup-shaped scars on the 
upper side, hard and 
woody, the section show- 
ing a thin blackish bark, 
hard yellowish wood, 




242 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

and a large purplish-brown pith, and about six 
medullary rays, which are wide at the pith and 
become narrow toward the bark, giving the pith 
the appearance of a six-rayed star; the thin and 
wrinkled rootlets are brittle, and have a thick black- 
ish bark and a thin wood-cylinder ; odor faint or none, 
and taste bitter and slightly acrid. — c. Leptandrin, 
resin, etc. — u. Laxative, alterative tonic and chola- 
gogue. Dose: 1 to 4 grams. 

Asarum. 

x. Canada Snake Root, Wild Ginger. 
— o. The rhizome and rootlets of Asa- 
rum Canadense ; Aristolochiacece \ — n« 
North America. — d. From 7.5 to 15 cm* 
long, often broken into shorter lengths, 
about 3 mm. thick, somewhat contorted 
or bent, slightly angular or quadrangu- 
lar, finely wrinkled, with nodes about] 
1.5 cm. apart and with thin nearly sim- 
ple rootlets at the nodes ; grayish-brown 
or purplish-brown externally and whit- 
ish within ; hard, with woody fracture ; 
odor peculiar, aromatic, and taste aro- 
matic, pungent and somewhat nauseous. 
— c. Volatile oil, resin, etc. — u. Spicy 
stimulant and carminative. Dose : 2 to 
5 grams. 

Gillenia. 

N. Gillenia, Indian Physic, American Ipecac. — o. 
The rhizomes and rootlets of Gillenia stipulacea and 
G. trifoliata; Rosacea. — h, United States. — d. The 
illustration shows the drug about two-thirds (linear) 
natural size ; the horizontal knotty rhizome is from 1 
to 2 cm. thick, much branched and often with stem- 
remnants attached, with numerous tortuous roots; 
both rhizome and roots have a thin brownish-red 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 243 

bark and a tough, whitish wood ; in the roots the 
brittle bark is often cracked off, exposing the wood, 
as shown in the drawing; in G. stipulacea the bark 
of the roots is irregularly thickened, causing them to 
resemble ipecac in the annulate appearance of the 
roots, but in G. trifoliata the roots are less contorted 
and smoother, as in the accompanying figure ; odor 




faint and taste bitter. — c. Gillenin, resin, etc. — u. 
Mild emetic. Dose : 1 to 2 grams. 
Geum. 
;n\ Avens, "Water Avens. — o. The rhizome and root- 
lets of Geum rivale; Rosacecz. — h. North America. 
— D. About 5 to 8 cm. long and about 6 mm. thick, 
knotty, scaly, wrinkled, with rootlets on under side, 
brownish or brownish-red externally as well as in 
the thin bark and the large pith, with a few small 



244 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

and widely separated whitish wood-bundles; odor 
slightly aromatic and taste astringent and bitter. — 




C. Volatile oil, tannin, etc. — u. Astringent tonic. 
Dose : 1 to 2 grams. 

European averts, the rhizome and rootlets of Geum 
urbanum, is used like the American variety of this 
drug ; its rhizome is thicker and shorter, about finger- 
thick and 2 to 5 cm. long, with a truncated head, and 
with rootlets about 12 cm. long and less than 1 mm. 
thick; tortuous, wrinkled, scaly, brittle, blackish- 
brown or reddish-brown externally and flesh-colored 
or yellowish-white within ; bark thin, wood usually 
in an interrupted circle and the large pith purplish 
brown ; odor aromatic and clove-like (from which it 
derives its European name, "Radix caryophyllatce"), 
and the taste astringent and bitter. — c. and u. like 
those of the American drug. 

Collinsonia. 

N.Stone Root. — o. The rhizome and rootlets of 
Collinsonia Canadensis ; Labiatce.— h. North America. 
— D, A knotty, tubercular, irregular branched rhi- 
zome, 7 to 10 cm. long, marked with numerous shal- 
low stem-scars, and many thin, brittle rootlets; ex- 
ternally grayish-brown and internally grayish-white ; 
very hard and tough; a section shows thin bark and 
irregular wood-bundles ; no odor, taste disagreeable 
and nauseous. — c. No analysis, but contains resinous 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 245 

matter, etc. — u. Stimulant and alterative diuretic. 
Dose : 0.5 to 2 grams. 




The drawing shows the upper surface of the rhizome, 
reduced to about four-fifths linear size ; also a trans- 
verse section. 

GROUP XXV. 

CRYPTOGAMOUS RHIZOMES WITHOUT ROOTLETS. 

The rhizomes of ferns have already been described 
in Group xv, with the other drugs which are derived 
from this order of plants. The acrogenous structure 
is so characteristic that these drugs are readily recog- 
nized. 

Only two drugs are of sufficient importance to de- 
serve mention here : 

Large rhizome, beset with the bases of 

Stipes Aspidium. 

Hard, dark-brown rhizome, beset with 
short remnants of stipes Polypodium. 



246 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



GROUP XXVI. 

MONOCOTYLEDONOUS RHIZOMES WITHOUT ROOTLETS; 
ELONGATED. 

The endogenous structure of the drugs of this group 
is readily recognized by examining sections. The 
grouping into "elongated" and "short or compact' ' 
is rather empirical, but is practical; this group in- 
cludes those in which the length is many times greater 
than the thickness. One of these drugs, Couch Grass, 
so often comes into trade cut, that it will usually be 
looked for in Group 70, where it is also mentioned. 

Jointed, deeply-wrinkled, flattish, 

grayish-brown, annulate with darker 

colored markings Iris Versicolor. 

Flattish-cylindrical, reddish-brown, 

with root-scars in wavy lines on the 

Under Side Calamus. 

Very long, thin, straw-colored, hol- 
low ; usually cut into pieces about 

1 cm. long Triticum. 

Iris Versicolor. 

Blue Flag has alieady been mentioned under Group 
xxii ; as it comes into trade of tener with the rootlets 
attached than without them, the student is referred 
to that group for illustration and description. 

Calamus. 

N". Calamus, Sweet Flag. — o. The rhizome of 
Acorns Calamus; Aracece. — h. Europe and North 
America. — r>. The unpeeled rhizome, which is the 
only kind that should be used, comes into trade 
usually in pieces 15 to 20 cm. long ; it is somewhat 
flattened, about 2 cm. broad and 1.5 cm. thick, wrin- 
kled longitudinally, and marked, especially on the 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



247 



upper surface, into wedge-shaped or obscurely trian- 
gular segments, by 
the darker-colored 
leaf-scars, and on 
the under side with 
more or less dis- 
tinctly zig-zag or 
wavy lines of round 
dots or root-scars ; 
externally reddish 
brown or yellow- 
ish-brown, andred- 
dish-white within ; 
breaks with an ab- 
rupt corky frac- 
ture, showing an 
oval section with 
the thickness of 
the portion on the 
outer side of the 
nucleus sheath 
(often erroneously 
called the "bark") 
over one-half the 
shortest diameter 
of the portion in- 
cluded within the 
nucleus sheath, 
with numerous 
brownish spots 
(fibr o-v ascular 
bundles)within the 
nucleus sheath and 
some also scattered 
outside the latter ; 
the microscope 
shows the entire parenchyma or fundamental tissue 




248 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



to be porous on account of 
the large intercellular 
spaces, the cells in the 
drawing which are dotted 
containing starch, those 
which are white containing 
oleo-resin ; odor aromatic 
and taste bitter aromatic. 
— C. Oleo-resin, volatile 
oil, etc. — tj. Stimulant, 
stomachic, carminative and 
tonic. Dose : 1 to 5 grams. 




Peeled Calamus 

is also found in the trade, but as the oil and resin- 
cells are especially plentiful in the sub-cuticular par- 
enchyma, and as, moreover, the thick and tough 
cuticle prevents both access of air and evaporation of 
volatile oil, the unpeeled drug is decidedly to be pre- 
ferred. Peeled calamus is without the characteristic 
segments, although it shows traces of root-scars on 
the lower side ; it is deeply wrinkled and sometimes 
sliced longitudinally, dirty or brownish- white ; when 
fresh it looks very handsome, especially when 
bleached, but if bleached (with chlorinated lime or 
sulphurous acid) it is utterly unfit for medicinal use. 



Triticum. 

N. Rhizoma Graminis; Couch Grass, Dog Grass, 
Quick Grass. — o. The rhizome of Agropyrum repens; 
Graminece. — h. Europe and North America. — D. A 
long and branched rhizome, about two mm. thick, 
the internodes about seven cm. long and the nodes 
usually bare, but sometimes with frayed leaf -remnants, 
or, more rarely, with a few hair-like rootlets ; smooth, 
but wrinkled longitudinally so as to be almost angular, 
hollow, of a pale straw-color, no odor, taste sweetish 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 249 

mucilaginous. As the drug reaches the retail phar- 
macist it is cut into short pieces, about one cm. long, 
looking much like straw chopped for fodder, and it 
would therefore be looked for in Group LXX, where 
it is also mentioned. A transverse section shows the 

central cavity, the diam- 
eter of which is about 
one-third of the diameter 
of the rhizome; the tis- 
sues consist mainly of 
parenchyma, hexagon- 
ally compressed, a nu- 
cleus sheath dividing a 
narrow interior layer 
from the wider outer 
part ; just within the nu- 
cleus sheath numerous 
bundles are closely aggregated, forming a cylinder, 
while near the outer circumference there are about 
half a dozen small bundles at equal distances apart. — 
C. Glucose, triticin (resembles inuliu), mucilage, 
etc. — u. Demulcent diuretic. Dose: 5 to 10 grams 
in infusion or fluid extract. 

The rhizomes should be gathered in the fall of tne 
year, after vegetation ceases for the season, or in spring 
before it again commences, and the rootlets should be 
removed. 

GROUP XXVIL 

MONOCOTYLEDONOL'S RHIZOMES WITHOUT ROOTLETS; SHORT 
AND COMPACT. , 

An examination of the sections shows the endogen- 
ous structure of these drugs. The group includes 
those endogenous rhizomes in which the length is not 
much more than two or three times the thickness of 
the drug. 



250 ' NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Flattish, lobed, peeled or unpeeled, 
brownish, gray or white rhizomes, .zingiber. 

Cylindrical, branched, reddish-brown 
rhizomes, annulate with lighter- 
colored wavy leaf-sheaths Gaianga. 

Cylindrical or oval yellowish-gray 
rhizomes, deep orange-yellow 

within Curcuma. 

Flat, somewhat ham-shaped, grayish 
or white rhizomes, often with 
similarly shaped smaller lobes at- 
tached Iris Florentina. 

Very hard, irregular, massive tuber- 
ous rhizomes, reddish-brown, with 
funnel-shaped stem-scars chinae Riiizoma. 

Sub-cylindrical, curved, grayish- 
brown rhizome without rootlets. . .Heionias. 

Light-reddish or brownish-gray cir- 
cular disks, or in longitudinal 
halves or quarters zedoaria. 

Zingiber. 

N. Ginger. — o. The rhizome of Zingiber officinale; 
Scitaminece. — h. Cultivated in tropical countries. — 
D. There are several kinds of "ginger in the trade, 
but they resemble each other in form. The rhizome 
is from 5 to 10 cm. long, 10 to 15 mm. broad and 5 to 
8 mm. -thick, flattish, clavately lobed on one side 
(such lobed pieces are called " race " ginger) ; with or 
without epidermis, varying in color according to 
variety from dark grayish-brown to white ; breaking 
with a somewhat fibrous mealy fracture, showing a 
nucleus sheath within which most but not all of the 
fibovascular bundles are found; odor aromatic and 
taste pungently spicy. — c. Volatile oil, resin, etc. — 
u. Carminative stimulant, used for flavoring. Dose: 
About one gram. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



251 



Cochin Ginger is the variety that best answers the 
description of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia; pale-buff- 




colored or yellowish, with short lobes and somewhat 
striate ; it makes a beautiful light-yellow powder and 
has a strong but agreeable flavor and taste. 

Jamaica Ginger is whitish externally and inter- 
nally and has long lobes; the epidermis is removed 
and it is often coated with a white powder of car- 
bonate of lime from having been immersed in milk of 
lime. The smaller figure shows this variety, but while 




the lobes are usually small, due to loss of substance 
by peeling, the specimens may sometimes be as large 



252 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



as the Cochin ginger. This variety has the most 
pleasant flavor and is therefore preferred for culinary 
purposes. 

African Ginger is an unpeeled ginger ; it is illus- 
trated in the lower figure ; it has short lobes and the 
epidermis is dark-grayish-brown with peculiar darker 
patches as if torn on one side. It has a stronger 
though less agreeable taste than the other gingers. 

A preserved ginger, made by boiling the fresh 
rhizomes in a concentrated syrup and then packing 
in jars, is to be found in the grocery trade. 

Green ginger is ginger sent into trade in a fresh 
condition. 

Black ginger is a ginger which has been boiled in 
water and then dried ; it is dark-colored and horny 
within. The term is also sometimes applied to " un- 
peeled " ginger. 

Coated ginger is ginger retaining its epidermis, in 
other words, unpeeled ginger. Peeled ginger retains 
no epidermis. Natural or unbleached ginger has no 
lime attached; bleached ginger is whitened by im- 
mersing in milk of lime or chlorinated lime and re- 
tains a coating of powder of carbonate of lime. The 
word "race" as applied to ginger refers to the 
palmately lobed shape of the whole rhizome. 



Galanga. 




n. Galangal. — 
o. The rhizome 
of Alpinia offici- 
11 arum; Scitami- 
nece. — h. China. 
-D. Knotty, oft- 
en branched, cyl- 
indrical, about 5 
to 6 cm. long and 
about finger-thick, 
frequently curved, 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



253 



truncated at the ends, externally light red-brown, 
finely wrinkled lengthwise, marked by wavy trans- 
verse rings from remnants of leaf-scales or sheaths, 
hard, brittle with short fracture, cinnamon-brown 
and showing structure as in illustration ; under the 
microscope numerous brownish-yellow resin-cells are 
to be seen; odor aromatic, especially when freshly 
ground, and taste pungently spicy. — c. Volatile oil 
and resin. — u. Similar to those of ginger. Often 
sold by street fakirs as a secret catarrh cure, to be 
grated and used as a snuff ; thus used it is sternutatory. 

Curcuma. 

N. Curcuma, Tur- 
meric. — o. The 
rhizome of Curcuma 
lo nga ; Scita m in ecz . 

— H. Southern Asia. 

— n. Oblong or oval, 
from 3 to 5 cm. long 
and about half as 
thick, being then 
called " round tur- 
meric, " or only 
about 1 cm. thick, 
when it is called 
1 'long turmeric, ' ' but 
many pieces are 
much smaller; sometimes cut longitudinally or trans- 
versely, somewhat annulate and with large scars ; ex- 
ternally yellowish-gray and internally deep orange- 
yellow or brownish-yellow, resembling the color of 
whole gamboge ; fracture abrupt, resinous and glossy, 
showing a nucleus sheath with bundles both within 
and without the sheath; odor slight and ginger- 
like, taste warm, bitter, aromatic. The powder 
is rich deep yellow and turns brown with alka- 
lies and borax. — c. Volatile oil, resin, and an 





254 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

orange-yellow, resinous 
coloring matter called 
curcumin, which in solu- 
tion has a greenish 
fluorescence. — u. Stimu- 
lant carminative, but 
rarely employed inter- 
nally; used mainly as 
a coloring agent. 

In the trade distinc- 
tion is made between 
light and dark turmeric (or yellow and red turmeric), 
and between long and round turmeric. 

Of the varieties in our markets Madras Turmeric 
is best ; it is generally large and orange-yellow, and 
somewhat rough externally. 

Bengal Turmeric is gray externally and smoother 
than the Madras variety, and has a darker red color 
within. It is also smaller and more slender. 

Chinese Turmeric is the best, but is not often found 
in our markets. 

Java Turmeric "is rather small and usually cut 
transversely and longitudinally ; also rare in our trade. 
Powdered turmeric is occasionally used as an 
adulterant to spices, drugs, etc., to impart afresh 
color. The shapes of its cells, starch and ducts there- 
fore deserve special study. 

Iris Florentina. 

n. Orris Root, Florentine Orris ; its German name 
is Veilchen-wurzel (violet root) on account of its 
violet-like odor which is utilized in the manufacture 
of perfumeries. — o. The rhizomes of Iris Florentina; 
/. pallida and I.Germanica; Iridece. — H. Northern 
Italy ; cultivated. — d. Simple or branched, flattened, 
jointed, 5 to 10 cm. long and about 2.5 cm. 
broad ; with a circular scar at the upper end and with 
numerous round brownish root-scars on the lower 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



255 



side, and small marks of bundles on the upper 

side ; wrinkled length- 
wise, or smooth and 
somewhat angular 
from being peeled ; 
externally whitish or 
yellowish-white; 
heavy, hard, with 
fracture short and 
mealy ; section long 
oval, with nucleus 
sheath near the outer 
surface and most 
marked on lower half, 
and fibro vascular bun- 
dles within the 
sheath; odor violet- 
like and taste insipid, 
afterward bitter and 
slightly, acrid. — c. 
Volatile oil, acrid re- 
sin, etc. — u. Seldom 
employed internally. 
It is said to be an 
alterative cathartic 
iris florextina. and diuretic. Used 

mainly in the preparation of perfumery, flavoring 
extracts, etc. 

Florentine Orris is mainly from Iris pallida, and 
/. Germanica, but is named "Florentine" because it 
is cultivated near the city of Florence in Italy. It is 
considered better than the Veronese varieties, 
although the latter are obtained from the same plants. 
Verona Orris is of a more yellowish color. 

Finger Orris consists of picked, slender, nearly 
straight pieces, smoothly trimmed to uniform size 
and shape and usually whitened with chalk, magnesia 




256 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



or starch. Usually with a hole drilled through one 
end. Used for teething infants. 

Orris Root is frequently worm-eaten ; only sound 
pieces of good odor and light color should be used. 

Ciiinae Rliizoma. 

N. China Root. — 
O. The rhizome of 
Smilax China ; 
L ilia ce ce. — h. 
China and Japan. 
— D. Stout fibrous 
tubers, 5 to 20 cm. 
long and 2 to 6 cm. 
thick, knotty, 
dense, tough, ex- 
ternally reddish- 
brown, with sev- 
eral deep, circular, 
funnel-shaped 
stem-scars on the 
upper 'surface ; in- 
ternally pale- 
pinkish or pale 
brown ish- white, 
darker towards 
the center on 
account of num- 
erous dark-brown 
resin cells; inodor- 
ous; taste at first 
insipid, afterwards 
bitterish; slightly 
astringent and 
acrid. — c. Similar 
or identical with 
those contained in 
sarsaparilla. — u. 
Same as those of 
sarsaparilla ; alter- 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 257 

ative. Dose : 2 to 5 grams several times a day, best 
given in form of fluid extract. 



Zedoaria. 

Bf. Zedoary. — o. The tuberous rhizome of Cur- 
cuma Zedoaria; Scitaminece. — h. India, Bengal and 
Madagascar. — d. The whole 
rhizome is ovoid, about 4cm. 
long and 3 cm. thick, orange- 
brown; but the drug usually 
comes into trade in circular 
slices or disks, with the cut 
surfaces pale grayish-brown 
with a somewhat waxy ap- 
pearance, and showing a 
nucleus sheath near the 
outer circumference; odor 
and taste similar to those of 
ginger. — c. Kesin, 4 to 1% 
volatile oil, etc. — u. and dose similar to those of 
ginger. 

Heionias, or False Unicorn Root, usually has root- 
lets attached, and was described on page 227; occas- 
ionally it is without rootlets, and then belongs here. 




GROUP XXVIII. 

EXOGENOUS RHIZOMES WITHOUT ROOTLETS; LONG. 

Drugs of this group are many times longer than 
they are thick ; some of them occasionally, though 
rarely, come into trade with rootlets attached. 
Rhizomes with thickened nodes, 
with stem-scars above and root- 
scars below; glossy brown, whit- 
ish within Podophyllum. 

Cylindrical, annulate, light, pithy, 
grayish-brown; bark exfoliating.Aralia Nudicaulis. 



258 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Podophyllum. 



N. Mandrake, 
May Apple. — o. 
The rhizome of 
Podophyllum pel- 
latum; B e r~ 
beridecz.—TL. North 
America. — d. 
Somewhat variable 
in size, consisting 
of joints about 5 
to 8 cm. long, the 
nodes thickened, 
with a well-marked 
stem-scar on the 
upper surface and 
white root-scars 
on the lower 
surface; the inter- 
nodes from 5 to 10 
mm. thick, the 
thinner predomi- 
nating, and with- 
out root-scars ; the 
end terminates in 
a scar and often is 
branched, and it is 
also somewhat 
larger than the 
other parts of the rhizome, as is shown in the draw- 
ings; smooth, or longitudinally wrinkled; orange- 
brown externally and white within ; breaks with an 
abrupt, usually white, mealy fracture, so that a 
section is required to show the fibro-vascular bundles, 
of which there are about sixteen arranged in a circle ; 
no odor ; taste at first sweetish, then bitter and acrid. 




u 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 259 

— c. Kesin, called ' 'podo- 
phyllum" in the trade. The 
drug is very variable in 
quality, and its value de- 
pends directly on the 
amount of "podophyliin" 
which it yields; 
there should 
not be less than 
from four to five 
per cent of this 

substance, which, however, is not a 
pure resin, but a mixture of several 
compounds, such as podophyllinic acid, 
podophyllotoxin, picropod ophyllin , 
etc. — u. Emetico-cathartic in large 
doses ; in medicinal doses it is a reliable 
cathartic, supposed also to possess 
alterative and cholagogue properties. 
Dose: 0.3 to 2 grams. 

Aralia Nudicaulis. 

N. American Sarsaparilla, False Sar- 
saparilla. — o. The rhizome of Aralia 
nudicaulis; Araliacece. — H. North 
America. — Cylindrical, 30 cm. or more 
in length, but usually broken into 
shorter pieces, about 6 mm. thick, 
longitudinally wrinkled, annulate above, 
with cup-shaped scars from stems ; 
rootlets usually altogether absent ; bark 
grayish-brown, exfoliating ; internally 
| white or pale yellowish, with a large 
spongy pith ; odor slightly aromatic and 
taste insipid, somewhat disagreeable. — 
c. A little volatile oil, resin, etc. — 
u. Alterative. Dose : 2 to 5 grams. 



260 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

GROUP XXIX. 

DICOTYLEDONOUS RHIZOMES WITHOUT ROOTLETS; SHORT 
AND COMPACT. 

The length of these drugs is only three or four times 
greater than their diameters; the exogenous struc- 
ture is easily recognized in a prepared section, or 
even in the end of a piece of the drug soaked in 
water and cut through smoothly with a sharp knife. 
Flattened, bent upon itself, or broken, 

dark-brown, hard Bistorta. 

Dark reddish-brown rhizome, somewhat 

flattened, much wriukled and twisted. . Sanguinaria. 
Hard, compact, contorted and tubercu- 

lated, umber-brown Geranium. 

Simple, cylindrical or flattened, exter- 
nally rough and grayish-brown Tormentilla. 

Dark-brown, knotty, flattened, with root- 
scars and transverse rings imperatoria. 

Bistorta. 

N. Bistort. — o. The rhizome of Polygonum Bis- 
torta; Polygonacecz. — h. Asia a Europe and Amer- 
ica. — d. The whole rhizome is about 15 cm. long, 16 
to 18 mm. broad and 1 cm. thick; firm, hard, S- 




shaped or bent twice upon itself, as shown in the 
drawing (whence the name, bis, twice, and torta, 
twisted or bent), flattened on one side, plump and 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



261 



rounded on the other; marked by transverse striae 
on the upper surface, and with root-scars on the 
lower side ; externally dark-brown or almost black ; 
breaks with abrupt fracture, and in fact usually 




comes into trade broken at the places where it 
is bent, so that it appears to consist of short straight 
pieces; internally brownish-red; thick bark, small 
bundles in a circle, and very large pith; no odor, but 
taste very astringent. — c. About. 20 per cent tannin. 
— U. Simple astringent. Dose : 1 to 2 grams. 



Sanguinaria. 




N. Blood Root. — o. 
Rhizome of Sangni- 
naria Canadensis; 
Pap av erac e cz . It 
should be collected in 
autumn. — h. North 
America. — d. The 
rhizome is in pieces 
about 5 to 7.5 cm. long, 
1 to 2 cm. thick, some- 
what flattened, slight- 
ly annulate, much 
wrinkled and twisted, 
or broken, often with 
abrupt offsets or 
branches, and some- 
times with very brit- 



262 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



tie rootlets ; dark reddish-brown externally ; fracture 
abrupt, somewhat waxy, in fresh pieces whitish, with 
red dots, in older pieces, brownish-red ; odor slight 
and taste bitter and acrid. — c. The alkaloid sangui- 
narine, one or two other unimportant alkaloids, resin, 
etc. — u. In large doses, emetic; in smaller doses, 
stimulant and tonic. The powder is sometimes used 
as an errhine and sternutatory. Dose: 0.1 to 1 
gram. 

The illustration shows the whole drug, natural 
size ; a, transverse section of soaked rhizome, and b, 
the same after clearing with dilute lye. 

Geranium. 

N. Geranium, Cranesbill. — o. Ehizome of Geran- 
ium maculatum; Geraniacece. — h. North America. 
— d. Cylindrical, sometimes branched, 5 to 7 cm. 
long and about 1 cm. thick, contorted and tubercu- 
lated, hard and compact; longitudinally wrinkled; 
externally dark umber-brown ; fracture short, show- 
ing pale red-brown broken surface ; inodorous ; taste 
pure astringent without disagreeable other taste. 




c. From 15 to 25 percent tannin, etc. — u. Astrin- 
gent tonic. Dose : 1 to 4 grams. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 263 

Tormentilla. 

N. Tormentil. — o. Rhizome of Poten- 
tilla Tormentilla; Rosacece. — h. Eu- 
rope. — d. Simple or sometimes 
branched, cylindrical or flattened, taper- 
ing; 5 to 8 cm. long and about 15 mm. 
thick, but often broken into shorter 
lengths; roughly marked by roundish 
elevations and ridges and with the 
scars of stems and rootlets ; externally 
dark grayish-brown; very hard and 
compact, but breaks with abrupt and 
slightly fibrous fracture, showing light 
brownish-red interior ; bark thick ; 
wood-bundles small; pith about same 
thickness as the bark ; no odor ; taste 
astringent. — c. About 25 per cent tannin. 
— u. Astringent, tonic. Dose: 1 to 
2 grams. 

Imperatoria. 

Masterwort is sometimes classed among the rhiz- 
omes, but belongs more properly among the roots, 
where it has already been described and figured. 
The student is referred to Group XX for a consid- 
eration of this drug. 

TUBERS OR CORMS. 

While tubers and corms resemble each other, a 
distinction may be made between them botanically, 
although it is not of much consequence as far as 
pharmacognosy is concerned. 

A tuber is a thickened and short rhizome or root- 
stock ; it usually has several internodes and there- 
fore may have a number of lateral buds, as well as a 
terminal bud, as for instance in the potato. 

A corm is a very short, thickened, compact, fleshy, 
generally leafless underground stem or branch, often 




264 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

much thicker than it is long, which also produces 
buds, terminal or lateral or both ; it sometimes con- 
sists only of one internode, in which case it produces 
only the terminal bud; when it consists of several 
internodes it may have lateral buds, occurring in the 
axils of leaves, which sometimes surround the corm 
as a membranous envelope. Sometimes the corm is 
the dilated base of the annual stem, as in Turkey 
Corn. 

The tuberous roots, as of aconite and jalap, are by 
some authors classed as tubers, but as they are really 
roots and not enlarged stems, and do not produce 
buds, although a small portion of adhering stem may 
have buds and may therefore permit of growth, as in 
aconite, the tuberous roots belong with the fleshy 
roots and not with tubers or corms. 

Both corms and tubers may have traces of scaly 
leaves or leaf-scars on the sides or above and either 
rootlets or root-scars below. 

Some authors class corms and tubers with bulbs, 
considering that the presence or absence of fleshy 
leaf-bases is of insufficient importance to make a 
division. Other authors class corms and tubers, as 
well as bulbs, with the " gemmce " or leaf -buds, con- 
sidering the corms solid buds, the bulbs to be fleshy 
buds, while the leaf -buds are scaly buds. But corms 
and tubers are sufficiently distinct from the other 
structures mentioned, that they may readily be dis- 
tinguished from them, as well as from short rhizomes, 
which they also somewhat resemble, and they are 
therefore separately grouped here. 

Both tubers and corms are commonly called 
" roots " in the trade, yet for the purposes of the 
pharmacognocist a distinction must be made and their 
real nature must be borne in mind. 

Corms and tubers may be divided : — 
Corms and Tubers.. {™e. ;; . .............. ....JO 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 265 

GROUP XXX. 

WHOLE TUBERS AND CORMS. 

Hard, tuberous, irregularly round or pear- 
shaped, dark-brown Jalapa. 

Conical, blackish-brown, tuberous roots, 
single or joined in pairs Aconituin. 

Ovoid, brownish, wrinkled corms, with a 
groove on one side Coichicum. 

Single, round, small, hard, semi-translucent 
or opaque, yellow or brown tubers ; some- 
times two tubers joined with a smaller 
third one between Corydaiis. 

Oval, slightly flattened or shrunken, semi- 
translucent and very hard Saiep. 

Jalapa. 

On account of the general habit of calling the 
pieces of jalap " tubers/' many students would natur- 
ally look here for this drug, and might be puzzled if 
they found no mention of it. Jalap consists of tuber- 
ous roots and is therefore described with the fleshy 
roots. (See Group XX.) 

Aconitum. 

The remarks just made in reference to jalap apply 
also to this drug. (See Group XX.) 

Coichicum. 

Occasionally the whole tubers of Coichicum occur 
in the trade or an occasional whole tuber may be 
found in the sliced corms as ordinarily sold. But 
Coichicum is usually sliced and is therefore described 
in the following group. (See Group XXXI.) 



266 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 




Corydalis. 

n. Turkey Corn, Turkey Pea, 
Squirrel Corn. — o. The tubers 
of Dicentra Canadensis ; Fu- 
mariacece. — h. North Amer- 
ica, north of Kentucky. — d. 
Eound, from 3 to 12 mm. in diameter, resembling 
tears of inferior acacia gum; of a tawny yellowish 
color, internally yellowish- white, semi-translucent; 
some tubers are dark -brownish, opaque, and vary in 
size from 12 mm. diameter down to the size of barley 
grains ; still other 
tubers consist of two 
irregular concavo- 
convex tubers, be- 
tween which a 
smaller rounded or 
flattened third tuber 
is found; all forms 
are hard and horny, 
inodorous and persistently bitter. — c. An alkaloid 
called corydaline, which in the drug is combined with 
fumaric acid, an acrid resin, bitter extractive, etc. — 
U. Tonic, diuretic and alterative. Dose : 1 to 2 grams. 
Salep. 

n. Salep. — o. 
The prepared 
tubers of Or- 
chis mascula, 
O. m Hit avis, 
O. morio, and 
other deter- 
mined and un- 
deter mi ne d 
varieties of 
Orchis; Orchi- 
dacecz, sub- 
order Ophry- 





NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 267 

dece. — h. Germany and France. — d. Irregularly oval, 
globular or flattened roundish tubers; sometimes 
deeply wrinkled or shrunken; about 2 cm. long; 
hard, heavy, yellowish or yellowish-gray, translucent ; 
fracture homogeneous, horny, shining; inodorous; 
taste insipid mucilaginous. — c. Bassorin, starch, etc, 
— U. Nutritive and demulcent, A mucilage made 
from salep is occasionally employed as a vehicle for 
acrid or irritating remedies. 

The tubers of salep are of gelatinous fleshy con- 
sistence when fresh and contain starch grains. They 
are prepared for trade by scalding in boiling watei 
and then rapidly drying in ovens; the starch is 
swelled and altered to a paste in the cells and to this 
is due the horny appearance of the drug. 

A larger and darker-colored variety than that above 
described was formerly brought from Oriental coun- 
tries. 

A variety which is palmately lobed is obtained 
from O. latifolia, O. maculata, etc., and was formerly 
gathered separately and sold as Radix palmce Christi. 
Tubers of this kind are sometimes, although rarely, 
found mixed with the ordinary trade variety described 
above. 

One part of powdered salep boiled with forty parts 
of water forms a thick jelly on cooling, 

GROUP XXXI . 

SUCED TUBERS. 

Kidney-shaped grayish-white slices Colchicum. 

Transverse slices with dark-gray epidermis 
and mealy-white surfaces Arum. 

Colcliici Tuber. 

x. Commonly, though erroneously, called Colchicum 
Root. — o. The tuber of Colchicum autumnale; Lili- 
acece. — h. Europe. — d. The whole tuber is rarely 



268 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



found in the trade. The whole corm is about 3 cm. 
high, ovoid, with a groove on one side in which, in 
the fresh state, the lateral bud rests, which forms the 




next season's corm. But usually the drug consists of 
the corm cut into slices and then dried ; these slices 
are generally transverse, but longitudinal slices also 
occur. The transverse slices are kidney-shaped, 
about 25 mm. in the longest diameter and about 2 
mm. thick ; one surface of the upper and under slices 
and the edges of the intermediate slices are covered 
with a brownish epidermis, while the cut surfaces are 
grayish or grayish-white and speckled with slightly 
darker dots (the sections of fibro-vascular bundles, 
endogenous arrangement) ; breaks with abrupt mealy 
fracture; inodorous and with sweetish-bitter and 
somewhat acrid taste. — c. Colchicine, alkaloid. — u. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



269 



Cathartic and diuretic, mainly used as antarthritic in 
gout and rheumatism. Dose : 0.1 to 0.5 grams. 

Colchicum root which is dark-colored or horny 
should be rejected. In the illustration the central 
figure is an upper transverse slice, the four corner 
figures are of inner transverse slices, the upper mid- 
dle and left-hand middle figures show longitudinal 
outer slices and incidentally give an idea of the 
appearance of the whole corms, while the middle 
figure in the lower row shows the groove in a longitu- 
dinal slice ; the right-hand middle figure is an inner 
longitudinal slice ; all natural size. 

Arum. 

N. Indian Turnip. — o. The tubers or corms of Arum 
triphyllum; Aroidecz. — h. North America. — d. Oc- 
curs in transverse slices, from 2 to 5 cm. in diameter 




and 3 to 6 mm. thick; the outer edge covered with 
epidermis is dark-gray and beset with rootlets ; the 
cut surfaces are white; the drug breaks with an 
abrupt mealy fracture; no odor; taste acrid. — c. A 
volatile acrid principle, which is exceedingly pungent 
in the fresh corm, but gradually is lost on keeping, 
until the drug becomes almost or entirely inert. — u, 



270 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Stimulant expectorant, diaphoretic and carminative. 
Dose : 1 to 2 grams three or four times daily. 

The illustration shows three slices, natural size, and 
a few starch grains, enlarged. 

European Arum, from Arum maculatum, is similar 
to the American drug. 

BULBS. 

A bulb is a form of stem resembling the corm as to 
its solid part, but the bulk of it consists of thick or 
fleshy leaf-scales surrounding the buds which are 
found at the apex of growth within. These leafy 
envelopes may be narrow and arranged like shingles 
on a roof, overlapping each other (scaly bulb) or they 
are wide and each one is wrapped more or less nearly 
completely around all the others within (tunicated or 
coated bulb) ; the latter arrangement is seen in the 
onion, and it is the arrangement found in all medi- 
cinal bulbs. N 

Bulbs may be grouped, for purposes of pharma- 
cognosy, as whole bulbs and as sliced bulbs. 

B-»-{Ei e :::::::::.:::::::::::::::::::::::::il 

GROUP XXXII. 

WHOLE) BUL.BS. 

Only one bulb always comes into trade whole — Gar- 
lic. The most important bulb from a medicinal point 
of view is Squill, and this can sometimes be had fresh 
and w r hole, especially from florists for cultivation as a 
pot-plant, but in the drug trade this drug usually 
comes sliced and dried, and therefore belongs in the 
next group. The onion is sometimes mentioned in 
works of pharmacognosy, but is seldom used medi- 
cinally. 

Large, juicy, greenish or pinkish-white bulbs, 
the external scales, when present, pinkish- 
brown Scilla. 

White bulbs, with stem, coated with a few dry, 
membranous, white scales enclosing about 
eight bulblets Allium. 



NOTES ON PHAKMACOGNOSY. 



271 



Scilla. 

In some pharmacopoeias the fresn bulb is demanded 
as the drug. It is a large, pear-shaped, tunicated 
bulb, resembling a large onion in appearance, but 
without the odor; up to 15 cm. long and 10 to 15 cm. 
broad; the external scales are pinkish-brown, the 
inner scales are greenish or pinkish- white, juicy and 
translucent. The whole bulb is rarely found in the 
drug trade in our country and the reader will find 
this drug described in the next group. 



Allium. 

N. Garlic. — o. The fresh bulb of Allium sativum; 
LiliacecB. — h. Cultivated everywhere. — d. The illus- 




tration shows the bulb in natural size, except that the 
stems are usually 10 to 15 cm. long so that the bulbs 
can be tied in bundles and hung up in a dry, cool 



272 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

place, in which manner they can be kept fresh 
through the year. The middle figure shows the stem 
with its dry corm-like disk and with one of its bulb- 
lets attached. On this disk there are about eight 
bulblets (called " cloves of garlic"), arranged as in 
the left-hand figure, and surrounded with a few mem- 
branous scales which extend around the stem above. 
"When wanted for use the scales and stem are rejected 
and only the "cloves" are used. Garlic has a 
peculiarly pungent, penetrating and persistent odor, 
resembling asafcetida, and a pungent acrid taste. — c. 
Volatile oil. — u. Carminative and stomachic; whole- 
some and appetizing and used as an ingredient in 
most table sauces. Used in larger quantities it is ob- 
jectionable on account of the odor it imparts to the 
breath and the flatulence it produces. Dose: About 
2 grams. 

GROUP XXXIII. 

SUCED BUI.BS. 
S cilia. 

N. Squill. — o. The bulb of Scilla maritima\ Lilia- 
cecz. — h. Mediterranean countries. — d. After the 
outer partially dry and brownish scales have been re- 
moved the bulb is sliced in the same manner as 
onions are sliced for culinary purposes. The small 
inner scales are rejected and the intermediate scales 
are dried ; these latter then constitute the drug. Nar- 
row slices up to 5 cm. long, 10 to 15 mm. broad and 




about 3 mm. thick in the thickest part; often con- 
torted or broken ; whitish with a yellowish or pinkish 
tint; slightly diaphanous; brittle and pulverizable 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 273 

when dry, but often somewhat flexible and horny on 
account of its hygroscopic character which causes it 
to absorb water with great avidity ; if exposed to 
moisture it becomes darker-colored and less valuable ; 
no odor; taste mucilaginous, bitter and acrid. — c. 
Scillipicrin, scillitoxin and scillin. — u. In small 
doses, diuretic and expectorant ; in large doses, 
emetic and cathartic. Dose : 0.05 to 1 gram, accord- 
ing to the effect it is desired to obtain. 

TWIGS OR BRANCHES. 

Twigs or branches are parts of the ascending axes 
of plants, and therefore have the structure of stems, 
that is, they have nodes and internodes and if leaves 
are not present they show leaf -scars or occasionally 
leaf-scars with undeveloped leaf-buds. All the medi- 
cinal twigs are from exogenous plants and therefore 
show the characteristic structure of that class of stems. 

Some drugs consist of twigs with leaves attached ; 
these leaves may be ordinary foliage leaves, or the 
peculiar scaly leaves of some conifers. Some twigs 
come into trade without any leaves attached. These 
twigs are not always the drugs as recognized by the 
pharmacopoeias or other authoritative works, but may 
be simply gathered as twigs, when in reality only the 
leaves are wanted. Leafy twigs should not be con- 
founded with the drugs of Group IX, flowering tops, 
which are branches with flowers, or with both leaves 
and flowers. The narcotic herbs as found in bales 
usually are the smaller branches with leaves and 
sometimes flowers, although these drugs are officially 
described as the " leaves " of the respective plants. 

GROUP XXXIV. 

I<EAFY TWIGS. 

Many of the drugs used as " flowering tops " or as 
" leaves " may be mistaken for leafy branches ; such 



274 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

drugs must be remembered and if a drug taken to be 
a leafy branch is not found mentioned here, it may 
be looked for under Group 9, or under Groups 47, 
48, 49 or 50. A few drugs consisting wholly or mainly 
of inflorescences, as cusso, may also be mistaken for 
leafy twigs; such would be found mentioned under 
Group 51. Sometimes an inferior Cannabis Indica 
belongs here. 

Twigs with obovate or oval, coriaceous, 

slightly serrate leaves Gaultheria. 

Twigs mixed with coriaceous, oblance- 
olate or cuneate-lanceolate leaves, 
with margin serrate at apex and en- 
tire near the base ■ Chimaphila. 

Twigs and leaves agglutinated into 
broken masses with exuded gum- 
resin; leaves lanceolate, dentate Eriodyction. 

Brownish-green twigs with oval, thick 
coriaceous, and deeply wrinkled 
leaves ; leaves usually detached from 
twigs Pnoradendron. 

Twigs with scythe-shaped, long, light- 
grayish-green leaves Eucalyptus. 

Gaultheria. 

nr. Gaultheria, Wintergreen. — o. The leaves of 
Gaultheria procumbens; Ericacece. Only the leaves 
should be used, but the drug, as it comes into trade, 
always consists of the twigs with the leaves. — H. 
North America, from far north southward to Georgia 
and westward to Minnesota. — ». The illustration 
gives a good idea of the appearance of the drug, 
natural size; the twigs are slender, flexible, and 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



275 



much tangled in the drug, and unless packed tightly 
in the bale the upper part of the bale is apt to contain 
mainly twigs and the lower part most of the leaves ; 
the leaves are obovate or oval, short-petiolate, ob- 




scurely serrate with teeth hard, sharp and appressed, 
coriaceous or leathery, smooth and glossy, varying in 
color from green to brown ; odor fragrant and taste 
pleasantly aromatic. — c. Volatile oil, tannin, etc. — 



276 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

U. Stimulant and slightly astringent. Dose : 2 to 5 
grams, in infusion or fluid extract. 
Chimapbila. 
N. Chimaphila, Pipsissewa, Prince's Pine. — o. 




Leaves of Chimaphila umbellata; Ericacece. The 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 277 

leaves alone should be used, but twigs are always ad- 
mixed.— h. North America, Nova Scotia to Georgia, 
west to the Pacific. — d. The illustration gives a good 
idea of the drug, natural size ; the leaves are cuneate- 
lanceolate, or oblanceolate, with margin serrate at 
apex and entire near the base, coriaceous, smooth, 
dark-green to brown, w T ith little odor and a bitterish, 
slightly astringent taste. — c. Arbutin, chimaphilin, 
a small proportion of tannic acid, etc. — u. Altera- 
tive, astringent and tonic. Dose : 1 to 5 grams or 
more, in infusion or in fluid extract. 

The two drugs just described, Gaultheria and 
Chimaphila, are a good illustration of the necessity 
of using Latin scientific instead of common English 
or vernacular names. Both of them are called 
" Wintergreen," so that much confusion arises from 
the application of this same name to two different 
drugs; and in my own experience these particular 
two drugs caused me more trouble in this regard than 
all other drugs put together, before I finally learned 
to call only Gaultheria by the name of Wintergreen. 
In the text, therefore, Wintergreen is not given as 
one of the English names of Chimaphila, and through- 
out this book care is taken to apply an English name 
only to the one drug to which it is most commonly 
applied, even when the same name is used for several 
drugs. 

Eriodyction. 

jr. Eriodyction, Yerba Santa. — o. Leaves of Erio- 
dictyon glutinosum; Hydrophyllacece \ The leaves 
are always mixed with the twigs. — h. California. — 
D. The illustration shows a large specimen of the 
drug in natural size, showing the manner in which 
leaves and twags are agglutinated, and also one leaf 
whole in natural size ; frequently, however, the leaves 
are smaller, more broken and agglutinated into al- 
most formless masses, or broken into small fragments. 



278 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

The small drawing shows the venation on the lower 
surface of a leaf, after having removed the resin by 




soaking in warm soda lye, then washing and drying. 
The leaves are lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, acute, 
irregularly dentate, upper surface smooth, grayish- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



279 



green or brownish and glossy from resin, lower sur- 
face gra} r ish, netted-veined and hairy ; odor fragrant ; 
taste aromatic, sweetish. — c. Acrid resin and small 
quantity of volatile oil, etc. — u. Stimulant blennor- 
rhetic and expectorant. Dose : 1 to 2 grams. 

Yerba Santa is largely used, in combination with 
other drugs, in the manufacture of vehicles to dis- 
guise the bitterness of quinine, etc. 

Phoradendron. 

M. Phoradendron, American Mistletoe. — o. The 




whole parasitic plant, Phoradendro?i flavescens; 
Loranthacecz. — h. United States, from New Jersey 



280 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

to Missouri and Southwest. — ». See the illustration. 
The drug consists of various-sized, much-branched 
fragments of twigs of a yellowish-green or brownish- 
green color, deeply wrinkled longitudinally, and 
showing section as figured ; the leaves are of the same 
color as the twigs, thickly coriaceous and deeply and 
irregularly wrinkled, and often broken from the 
twigs ; the odor is heavy, disagreeable and the taste 
is bitter and somewhat astringent. — c. A tenacious 
substance called "viscin" (bird-lime), resin, fixed 
oil, tannin, etc. — u. Has been recommended as a 
parturient ; also as an astringent. Dose 1 to 5 grams, 
best as fluid extract. 

The European drug, the twigs and leaves of Viscum 
album, closely resembles the American Mistletoe. 

Eucalyptus. 

Eucalyptus is usually a mixture of twigs, leaves and 
buds as it comes in the bales, but it is generally gar- 
bled before it is sold to the retail drug trade so that 
it then consists of leaves alone. It is mentioned 
here, but will be described fully under Group 47. 

GROUP XXXV. 

SCAI/V TWIGS. 

Scaly twigs are obtained from several evergreen 
conifers ; they resemble each other rather closely and 
consist of twigs, with four rows of scales (scaly 
leaves) which are closely appressed to the twigs. 
Examine scales with a lens. 
Scales with a longitudinal ridge and projecting 

gland Thuja. 

Scales with a longitudinal groove Sabina. 

Thuja. 

N. Thuja, Arbor Vitse. — o. The fresh terminal twigs 
of Thuja occidentalis; Coniferce, — h. Canada and 
Northern United States ; frequently cultivated as an 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



281 



ornamental evergreen shrub. — ». Much-branched, 
flattish two-edged twigs with scaly leaves appressed 

in four rows, 
broadly ov- 
ate, bluntly 
pointed, 
those on the 
flat sides 
opened flat, 
those on the 
edges doubl- 
ed or folded, 
the flat ones 
with an ele- 
vated ridge 
and a raised 
and rounded 
oil or bal- 
sam - gland ; 
the illustra- 
tion shows 
two twigs 

enlarged, and a few of the scales enlarged about 
5 diameters; odor balsamic and taste pungent, 
camphoraceous and bitter. — c. Volatile oil, resin, 
etc. — u. Alterative, blennorrhetic ; externally as a 
stimulant to indolent ulcers. Dose: 2 to 5 grams, 
three or four times a day ; best in fluid extract. 

Sabina. 

N. Savin. — o. The terminal twigs of Juniperus 
Sabina; Conifercz. The twigs should 
be collected in spring. — h. North- 
ern Asia, Europe and America. — 
D. Branched, rounded or sub-quadran- 
gular twigs with four rows of scaly 
leaves, imbricate, lanceolate and acute ; 
scales about 2 mm. long, with a longi- 
tudinal groove or depression on the outer 





282 * NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

surface, or back; the color of a fresh drug should 
be greenish, not brown; the odor is terebinthinate 
and the taste disagreeably bitterish and acrid. The 
drawing shows the scales magnified five diameters. 
— €. Volatile oil, resin, tannin, etc. — u. Irritant 
diuretic, emmenagogue and vermifuge. It is some- 
times administered in large doses to produce abor- 
tion, and then often leads to dangerous or fatal 
gastro-intestinal inflammation. A dose sufficiently 
large to produce abortion is also very apt to produce 
death. Dose: 0.3 to 1 gram. 
Terminal twigs of common juniper, Juniperus com- 
munis, are said to be sometimes 
substituted for those of Juniperus 
Sabina; the general appearance is 
similar, but the scaly leaves are less 
pointed, even obtuse, and on the 
back is a groove, at the bottom and 
lower end of which is a gland, as 
seen in the accompanying draw- 
ing. This represents the leaves of common juniper 
magnified five diameters. 

GROUP XXXVI. 

NAKED OR IvEAFI^BSS TWIGS. 

Only one drug consisting of naked twigs is commonly 
to be found in the drug-market — Dulcamara. The 
fresh, or recently dried, flowering twigs or branches 
of Night-Blooming Cereus must be obtained from 
florists, etc., as they are not an article of commerce. 
Broom, which should be the flowering tops, consists 
occasionally of slender naked twigs, which are in 
reality the axes of inflorescences from which the 
flowers have been broken. 
Short, pale, grayish-green pieces of twigs, 

with smooth-cut ends ; usually hollow . . Dulcamara. 
Pale-green, five or six-angled stems, with 

clusters of spines on the edges Cereus. 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



283 



Dulcamara. 

X. Bitter-sweet. — o. The first, second or third 
year's twigs of Solatium Dulcamara; Solanacece. — 
H. Europe and North America. — D. The twigs are 




chopped into lengths of about three to five centi- 
meters, and are 1 centimeter or less in thickness, the 
average thickness being about five or six millimeters ; 
the pieces are cylindrical, somewhat angular from 
deep longitudinal wrinkles or grooves due to drying, 
marked with alternate leafscars and small buds, and 
the pith is generally torn and shrunken so that many 
of the pieces appear to be hollow; the external bark 
is light greenish-gray, the middle and inner bark is 
green in fresh aud yellowish in old drug, and the 
wood is yellowish or greenish-gray ; according to the 
age of the twig when gathered it has one or two 
(rarely three) annual rings, the wood being radiate 
with many fine medullary rays and containing large 
ducts ; the odor is faint, the taste is at first bitter, 
then sweetish. — c. A glucoside, dulcamarin, and an 
amorphous bitter substance from which the alkaloid 
solanin has been isolated. — u. Alterative; in large 
doses anodyne and narcotic. Dose: 5 to 10 grams, 
best in fluid extract. 




284 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Cereus Grandifloras. 

ST. Right-Blooming Cereus. The 
preparations of this drug are com- 
monly called for under the name 
1 ' Cactus Grandiflorus". — o. The 
fresh stems and flowers of Cereus 
grandiflorus; Cactacece. — h. Tropi- 
cal 'America; cultivated. — d. This 
drug cannot readily be obtained in 
the drug trade, as the fresh stem is 
wanted. Occasionally, however, the 
dried stems may be bought. The 
genuine drug consists of branches of various lengths, 
about 1J to 2 cm, thick, five to seven-angled, the 
edges beset with radiating clusters of 6 to 8 short 
spines, and at irregular distances apart there are 
branched rootlets ; the wood is thin and the bark con- 
sists of spongy parenchyma ; odor none, taste acrid. 
C. An alkaloid (?) cactine. — u. Diuretic, in dropsies, 
but mainly valued as a cardiac stimulant. Dose: 
about 0.5 gram, in tincture. As the fresh stems 
should be used, it is best to obtain them from florists, 
who sometimes have more than they require for their 
business ; in this way, however, only small quantities 
are obtainable. Manufacturers of pharmaceuticals 
frequently obtain the drug from Mexico, or the West 
Indies, the flowers and branches being crushed and 
packed in barrels and covered with a definite propor- 
tion of alcohol, so that it is a simple matter after- 
wards to add the menstruum necessary to make the 
commercial tincture. 

It is more than probable that much of the tincture 
sold is made from other and inferior or even worth- 
less varieties of cactus. 

PARTS OF BRANCHES. 

As already explained in previous pages, the exo- 
genous stem consists of three parts, an internal por- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 285 

tion of soft-walled and usually polyhedral cells which 
is called the medulla or pith, the wood, consisting of 
the xylem of the fibrovascular bundles and the 
medullary rays, and lastly, the bark, which is all 
that part which lies outside of the cambium. Some 
drugs consist of pith alone, some only of wood, and 
many are barks ; each of these parts of branches or 
stems must therefore be separately considered. 

GROUP XXXVII. 

PITHS. 

There is only one pith which is a drug, namely, the 
pith of sassafras, but the pith of elder is sometimes 
kept in drug stores, and probably always in stores 
dealing in scientific instruments ; it is also commonly 
used by microscopists for holding delicate tissues in 
the microtome, for section-cutting. Both piths are 
therefore apt to be met with by the student of phar- 
macognosy. 

Slender cylindrical, sometimes 

curved pieces, spongy, white. . . .Sassafras Medulla* 
Similar to above, but thicker and 

yellowish in color Sambuci Medulla. 

Sassafras Medulla. 

KT. Sassafras Pith. — o. The pith of Sassafras varii- 
folium; Laurinecz. — h. North America. — d. Slender, 
cylindrical or semi-cylindrical pieces, often curved or 
twisted, very light and spongy ; two to three centi- 
meters long and about 4 to 6 mm. thick ; consists of 
thin-walled polyhedral cells ; without odor and with 
insipid taste. — c. Mucilage. — u. When macerated 
with water it forms a mucilage which is not precipi- 
tated by alcohol. This mucilage is used as a men- 
struum or vehicle for other substances, especially for 
eye-washes. 



286 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Sambuci Medulla. 

Elder pith (from Sambucus canadensis; Caprifoli- 
acece) is in larger and thicker pieces than sassafras 
pith, and is of a yellowish color. It is composed of 
similar polyhedral cells, but is not mucilaginous. 
Used only for physical experiments, and for holding 
delicate objects for cutting sections for the micro- 
scope, as already mentioned. 

WOODS. 




Strictly 
ing, wood 



the stem will be understood. 



speak- 
is that 
tissue in plants 
which is made up 
of lignified cells, 
but it is generally 
considered to be 
all that part of ex- 
ogenous stems 
which is within 
the cambium lay- 
er. Commercially, 
at least, this is 
the meaning of 
"wood", in the 
drug-trade as well 
as in the lumber 
trade. By refer- 
ence to the descrip- 
tion of the section 
of an exogenous 
stem the relation 
of the fibrovascu- 
lar bundles to each 
other and to the 
other structures in 
the accompanying 



drawing the structure of the wood-cylinder is repre- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 287 

sented somewhat diagrammatically. In the interior 
is seen the pith, which is very small proportionately 
in logs from which "wood" is obtained ; from this 
pith the medullary rays radiate showing as radiating 
lines on the transverse section, but on the outside of 
the wood-cylinder these medullary rays form only 
short perpendicular lines, as they are not extended 
far in a perpendicular direction ; this is also the ap- 
pearance of the medullary rays in tangential sections. 
Medullary rays vary in width, in some cases being 
only a single cell wide, in other woods being two, 
three or more cells wide ; this character of the medul- 
lary rays is of diagnostic value in some woods, nota- 
bly so in quassia. 

As the stem grows, the cambium and bark and a 
few rings of wood next to the cambium are the living 
tissues ; the inner portion of the stem ceases to take 
part in active vegetative processes and merely serves 
for mechanical support. The outer layers of wood, 
which are filled with protoplasm and cell-sap and 
take part in the vegetative life of the tree, are usually 
white and constitute the alburnum or sap-wood, which 
is of little value, either as lumber or as drugs. As 
layer after layer of wood is added year after year, the 
inner layers are correspondingly withdrawn from the 
vegetative processes of the plant by an absorption of 
protoplasm and cell-sap and a deposit of extractive, 
resinous and coloring matters, etc., instead of the 
protoplasm, and these inner layers of wood then con- 
stitute the duramen or heart-wood. The heart-wood 
may be of the same color as the sap-wood, but often 
differs in color ; in red cedar, for instance, the outer 
wood is white and the heart-wood is red ; in walnut 
the heart- wood is brown ; in guaiac wood the heart- 
wood is dark olive-green or greenish-brown ; in ebony 
the heart-wood is jet-black ; etc. The formed ma- 
terials stored in the cells of the heart-wood render 
many woods valuable, either because these substances 



288 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

have medicinal virtues or because they can be used 
for dyeing ; in either case, woods containing them be- 
come valuable as drugs. 

The stems of the trees of the temperate zone, where 
there is complete cessation of growth during winter, 
are marked with perfect concentric annual rings; 
stems of trees of tropical climes, where growth is not 
thus completely suspended for a season, but goes on 
all the year, have no such rings, although they may 
be marked with " spurious " rings, as seen, for in- 
stance, in the section of a false pareira brava, shown 
on page 172. "With the exception of juniper wood, 
which is, however, rarely used, all the woods of the 
drug trade are from tropical trees and have spurious 
rings; this, however, is of little importance, as all 
the woods sold as drags are sold as shavings or rasp- 
ings, and it is impossible, therefore, to determine this 
feature in the fragments that constitute the drugs. 

Woods may show a uniform structure of wood-cells 
under the microscope, the cells varying in size, but 
otherwise alike, and traversed at more or less regular 
intervals by the medullary rays ; such woods are close- 
grained and even on section. Other woods have large 
ducts interspersed among the wood-cells, and such 
woods are more porous and show large openings on 
transverse section; the peculiar grouping of these 
ducts sometimes aids in the recognition of the wood. 

But the most easily observed, and at the same time 
sufficiently characteristic feature of woods for recog- 
nition, is color, and we group woods as follows : 



Woods. 



/White v 38 

1 Colored, 39 



GROUP XXXVIII. 

WHITE WOODS. 

Only one white wood, quassia, is of importance. 
Some authors mention Santalum album as a white 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



289 



wood, but it is merely the sap-wood of the same plant 
from which Santalitm citrinum is obtained and is 
seldom met with, and is worthless. 
Coarse, light, white shavings or raspings Quassia. 

Quassia. 

jf. Quassia. — o. The wood of Picrasma excelsa; 
SimarubecB. — h. Jamaica, "West Indies. — ». Quassia 
wood is imported in billets of various sizes, dense 
and tough, of medium hardness, porous, with minute 
pith and narrow medullary rays ; in the drug trade, 
however, it occurs as coarse, light, white shavings or 
raspings, odorless and intensely bitter. — c. A bitter 




principle called quassiin. It contains no tannin and 
the infusion is therefore compatible with iron salts. 
— U. A pure bitter tonic. Dose: 2 to 5 grams, in 
infusion. 

The quassia used in Europe is the wood of Quassia 
amara, of the same natural order as the plant which 
yields the drug used in this country. The wood of 



290 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Quassia amara is called in the trade "Surinam 
Quassia/' the shrub from which it is obtained being 
indigenous to Surinam. It resembles the Jamaica 




quassia which is used in this country, especially when 
in the form of shavings. 

The illustrations show Jamaica quassia in transverse 
and tangential sections ; it will be noticed that the 
medullary rays vary from one row of cells to two or 
three rows of cells in width. In Surinam quassia the 
medullary rays are rarely wider than one row of cells. 
This enables us to distinguish between the two kinds, 
although from a practical point of view there is no 
object in doing so, as the medicinal value of the two 
kinds of quassia is alike. 

Sandal Wood 

(the wood of Santalum album; Santalacese,) is im- 
ported, but does not reach the retailer, as it is only 
used for the preparation of volatile oil. Only the 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 291 

sap-wood is white and this is worthless, as it contains 
no oil. The heart-wood varies in color from yellowish 
to brown, and is described by some authors as San- 
ta lum ci tritium. 

GROUP XXXIX. 

COLORED WOODS. 

Some of the darker-colored woods, like guaiac wood, 
contain but little coloring matter, so that their solu- 
tions will not deeply stain fabrics moistened with 
them. Others, like logwood, contain an abundance 
of coloring matter, so that they can be used as dye- 
stuffs ; and, in fact, many of the woods which are 
used as drugs have no medicinal value, their whole 
commercial importance depending on their being dye- 
stuffs. Before the introduction of the anilin dyes it 
was necessary for the pharmacist not only to be ac- 
quainted with these dye-woods, but also with the 
manner of using them, with the mordants to be used, 
etc. ; now they are seldom called for in drug stores, 
although still extensively employed by dyers. 

Greenish-brown raspings, mixed 

with some white particles C*uaiaei Lignum. 

Yellowish or reddish-gray rasp- 
ings JnniperiL.ig-nnni. 

Deep purpHsh-red or brownish- 
red shavings, or coarse powder . Santaliim Rubrnm. 

Eed or reddish-brown raspings, 
the cut surfaces having resinous 
appearance Fernambuco. 

Purplish-black or brownish-red 
shavings or raspings, often with 
a greenish-metallic luster Ha?matoxylon. 

Brown or yellowish-brown chips 

or raspings Lignum Citriiium. 



292 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Guaiaci Lignum. 

N. Guaiacum Wood, Lignum Vitae. — o. The heart- 
wood of Guaiacum officinale and G. sanctum; Zygo- 
phyllecz. — h. West Indies. — ». This wood is im- 
ported in large logs or billets and is much used in the 
arts for the manufacture of articles which must stand 
much rough usage, as for instance ten-pins and balls 
for bowling. It is admirably adapted for such uses 
because the wood is firm and the bundles interlace 
and cross each other often at angles of even 60 °, so 
that it is practically impossible to split the wood in 




any direction. The wood is very hard, heavier than 
water, resinous, brown or brownish-green ; the whitish 
sap-wood should be rejected. The drug consists of 
the raspings and shavings^ which are the waste from 
the turners' benches; these raspings are greenish- 
brown, containing a few fragments of the whitish 
sap-wood; on addition of nitric acid they become 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 293 

dark bluish-green, odorless unless heated, when the 
drug has a balsamic odor ; the taste is slightly acrid. 
— c. Twenty to twenty -five per cent of resin. — u. 
Alterative diaphoretic. Dose : 2 to 5 grams in fluid 
extract. 
The figure shows a transverse section of the wood. 

Juniperi Lignum. 

N. Juniper Wood. — o. The wood of Jnniperus 
communis; Coniferce. — h. Northern Hemisphere. — 



» # The wood is distinctly marked with annual rings, 
the fall part of one and the spring portion of another 
being here shown in transverse section ; all the cells 
are marked with pits, as in the pitted cells already 
described on page 83, and there are no ducts. The 
drug consists of raspings of a reddish or yellowish- 
gray color; odor and taste similar to but weaker 
than juniper berries. — c. Volatile oil and resin. — u. 



294 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Diuretic, stimulant and emmenagogue. Used only as 
an ingredient in alterative diuretic teas or species. 

The figure shows a transverse section of the wood. 
S an t alum Riibrum. 

ST. Red Saunders. — o. The wood of Pterocarpus 
santalinus; Leguminosce. — h. East India. — ». The 
heart-wood is imported in hard, massive pieces, heavy 
(sinks in water), brownish-black externally and red- 
dish-brown internally and susceptible of a fine polish. 
The drug consists of chips or, more frequently, of 
raspings in the form of a coarse, irregular, brownish- 
red powder; almost tasteless and odorless. — c. A 
coloring principle, santalin, which is soluble in alcohol 
but insoluble in water. — u. Employed as a coloring 
agent for elixirs, tinctures, etc. 

Fernambuco. 

N. Brazil Wood, Pernambuco or Fernambuco Wood. 




— o. The heart-wood of several varieties of Caesal- 
pina, especially of C. echinata; Leguminosce. — h. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 295 

Brazil. — 1>. The heart-wood, without the bark and 
sap-wood, is imported in large logs, external] y dark 
reddish-brown, internally lighter in color; texture 
fine-grained ; surfaces resinous ; hard and susceptible 
of a fine polish. The drug consists of raspings, with 
a slightly sweetish taste, but scarcely any odor. — €. 
A coloring principle, brasilin, which is soluble in 
water, alcohol and ether, coloring them yellowish; 
by neutralizing all acids with which it is combined in 
its solutions, these assume a beautiful red color, while 
by adding alkalies in excess, they become yiolet or 
blue. — u. Fernambuco is sometimes used as a test- 
solution, but is mainly used as a red dye-stuff. 
The figure shows a transverse section of the wood. 

Haematoxylon. 

N. Logwood, Campeachy Wood. — o. The heart- 
wood of Hcematoxylon Campechianum; Leguminosce, 




H. Campeachy, Honduras and other parts of tropi- 
cal America. — ». Imported in logs which have been 



296 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

deprived of the bark and the yellowish sap-wood; 
these logs are very heavy and hard, externally bluish- 
black, internally reddish-brown, coarse-grained, but 
susceptible of a good polish. The drug consists of 
chips or coarse raspings of a brownish-red color, the 
different particles sometimes showing a greenish 
sheen or luster ; taste sweetish, astringent, and odor 
faint, agreeable. — c. Tannic acid and haematoxylin, 
a coloring principle much used as a stain in micro- 
scopical work. — u. Logwood is used as an astringent, 
mainly in the form of extract, of which the dose is 
about one gram. It is also used in the arts as a dye- 
stuff. 
The figure shows a radial section of the wood. 

Lignum Citrinum. 

jr. Fustic. — o. A yellow dye-wood obtained from 
Morus tinctoria; Urticacecz. — h. West Indies and 
South America. — 1>. The stems deprived of bark and 
most of the sap-wood are imported in large, heavy 
logs, which are brown externally and yellowish-brown 
internally. In the trade it occurs in shavings or rasp- 
ings of a deep yellowish color. — c. Fisetin (f ustin ? 
morin ?), yellow pigments used to dye fabrics yellow. 
Not used as medicine. 

barks. 

Botanically, bark is that part of an exogenous 
plant-axis (stem or root) which is outside of the 
cambium zone. 

From the standpoint of the pharmacognocist, how- 
ever, we must modify and limit the meaning of the 
word " bark," and we define it as that part of a 
woody, exogenous plant-axis (stem or root) which 
grows outside of the cambium zone, and which is de- 
tached from the wood-cylinder at the cambium zone, 
so that it is an article of trade by itself. 

The Latin word cortex (icis y 3, m.) means 
"bark" as well as "rind" or "peel" and is 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



297 



applied as a title to the class of drugs now under 
consideration, as well as to the rinds of fruits, as 
when we speak of cortex aurantii> cortex granatin etc. 
In English we make a distinction between these 
widely different structures, calling them by different 
names, but the use of the same word in the Latin 
titles leads to confusion, and the student should fix in 




his mind the conception of "bark" as being only 
that part of an exogenous plant-axis just described. 

"We have already studied the structure of stems and 
roots in the earlier part of these notes, but we must 
now again consider some facts already mentioned, 
with especial reference to this class of drugs. The 
accompanying figure represents somewhat diagram- 
atically the structure of an exogenous plant-axis; 



298 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

the cambium layer (d) separates the wood-cylinder, 
which consists of the pith, xylem (c) and medullary 
rays (a), from the bark. The latter consists of an 
outer epidermis in the young plant, or a corky layer 
(h) in older plants; next within this is a layer of 
parenchyma cells {/) and then a circle of alternate 
bast portions of fibrovascular bundles (e) and outer 
parts of medullary rays (g). 

The barks of commerce are rarely obtained from 
first year's twigs with a structure as represented in 
section in the drawing. In perennial exogenous 
stems a new ring of wood is formed each year from 
the inner part of the cambium, the annual rings be- 
ing thus added one after another ; the fibrovascular 
bundles divide and subdivide laterally, so that even 
after many years the width of each bundle is no 
more, and perhaps even less, than at the end of the 
first year. At the same time the cambium cells are 
forming new bark, and if we examine a section 
of an endogenous stem of several years' growth we 
find it to appear similar to the section represented on 
next page, in which the asterisk indicates the 
cambium zone, all within which is conventionally 
spoken of as " wood " while all without it is " bark". 

If we cut a willow twig in spring, during the time 
of rapid growth when the tissues are fresh and soft, 
choosing a straight, smooth piece and preferably a 
single internode for the experiment, and then beat 
the surface gently with the side of the knife-handle, 
we bruise and loosen the cambium cells so that we 
may slip a tubular outer piece from the solid cylinder 
of wood; the tube thus separated is the bark. If we 
make transverse sections, first, of the whole thick- 
ness of a willow twig, then of a piece of the bark 
and another of the wood-cylinder from which the 
bark was removed, as explained, and compare 
them with each other, we obtain a good conception of 
the relation of the bark to the other parts of the 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



299 



plant-axis. We see that the wood-cylinder consists 
of the pith, the xylem or wood portions of the fibro- 
vascular bundles and the medullary rays, as far out- 
ward as the 
cambium lay- 
er, and on the 
outside we 
find portions 
of the camb- 
ium tissue 
which was 
u torn in re- 
moving the 
bark ; we also 
see that the 
bark consists 
of the phloem 
or bast por- 
tions of the 
fibrovascular bundles alternating with the prolonga- 
tions of the medullary rays, of a layer of parenchyma 
surrounding them, and an outer corky layer, while 
on the inner side we find also remnants of torn 
cambium tissues. 

After this description it is almost superfluous to add 
that the arrangement of the endogenous plant-axis is 





Be,... 



such that there can be no bark in the proper sense of 
the word in monocotyls. 
Let us now examine this diagram of a section of 



300 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

bark. A typical bark consists of three layers. The 
outer layer is epidermis in young branches (a), under 
which a layer of cork or suber (b) soon forms, and in 
somewhat older barks the epidermis disappears and 
cork alone remains; this layer is called the "outer 
bark" (exophlceum*). Next within this corky layer 
or outer bark is a layer of parenchyma cells 
(c) formed by the apparent extension, broadening 
and merging into each other of the medullary 
rays; in reality these cells, together with the 
medullary rays and pith, are fundamental tissue. 
This layer extends from the cork inward to an 
imaginary line drawn to connect the outer points of 
the bast portions of all the fibro-vascular bundles in 
the transverse section, and this parenchyma con- 
stitutes the "middle bark" (mesophloeum). The 
third layer {d) consists of the bast-portions of the 
fibrovascular bundles (ph) and the intermediate 
medullary rays (m) from the imaginary line just 
described inward to the cambium layer ; it is called 
the "inner bark" (endophloeum or liber) and con- 
sists of alternating wedges of bast and parenchyma, 
the wedges of bast having their base or broader ends 
inward and the points outwards, and the fundamental 
parenchyma wedges vice versa. The bast consists of 
bast-parenchyma (bp), which differs in the shape and 
size of its cells from the fundamental parenchyma 
and bast-cells ( be ) ; it also contains sieve-ducts, 
which, however, are of little or no practical im- 
portance to the pharmacognocist. The arrangement 
of the bast-parenchyma, bast-cells and medullary 
rays or fundamental tissue and their relations to each 
other give the peculiar appearances to the transverse 
sections of barks by which we group them. 
The outer surfaces of barks offer several points of 

*The Latin technical names are quoted, because some 
authors use them in preference to the plain and easily-under- 
stood English names; in these notes the simpler terms are pre- 
ferred and used. 




NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 301 

interest which may be of diagnostic value. Formerly 
much attention was given to the study of the parasitic 
cryptogams, lichens and mosses, which grow on the 
surfaces of trees, and which were supposed to be 
characteristic features of certain barks. At the 
present time we give but little 
heed to these forms of vegetation, 
although some of them are peculiar 
in shape and possibly of some 
diagnostic value ; the accompany- 
ing illustration figures a lichen, 
the " graphis elegans," so-called 
from its resemblance to (Chinese) 
writing, which occurs on Saigon cinnamon; the little 
black spots on the white corky layer of Cascarilla are 
also cryptogamic plants. While it is possible that a 
closer study of this subject, not only in connection 
with barks, but also with other plant-parts, might 
furnish some data of value for the identification of 
powdered drugs, yet the former plan to use these 
lower plant-forms to identify whole barks is about as 
if some one would suggest that because the thumb- 
marks of no two persons agree in shape, therefore 
the lines and figures of the thumb might be used in 
recognizing our friends. A finger-mark in blood on 
the wall of a room in which a murder was committed 
might lead to the conviction of a murderer, but we 
recognize our friends by face and features other than 
thumb-marks ; so we use other coarser and equally 
characteristic features to identify drugs, rather than 
by a study of the cryptogamic parasites. The mere 
presence or absence of such growths may, however, 
sometimes be useful in distinguishing between the 
barks of stems (with) and the barks of roots (without) 
of the same plant. 

Cork proper consists of true cork-cells (suber) which 
may be from a few to a few hundred or thousand cells 
in thickness. These cells are practically impervious 



302 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



to moisture and serve to prevent evaporation of mois- 
ture from the stem while en route from the roots to 
the leaves. As the stem grows in thickness this 
corky layer becomes fissured in a manner which 
enables the wood-man to recognize the varieties of 
trees in the forests or fields by their barks, and often 
enables pharmacognocists to recognize barks by these 
same characteristics. In some barks this corky layer 
cracks off after awhile, but a thin protecting layer re- 
mains, from which thicker layers soon are reproduced ; 
meanwhile the middle bark forms new cells to adapt 
the bark to the growing circumference of the plant, 
so that while the bark grows in all directions it yet 
retains the structure of a typical bark with the three 
layers, the outer > middle and inner barks. 
In other plants, however, the bark continues to 




grow only or mainly at the cambium zone and in this 
case, as the circumference enlarges and fissures form, 
these extend into the middle bark or even into the 
inner bark, until large pieces of bark finally fall off. 
This would leave the stem in a denuded condition, 
somewhat like an open ulcer on an animal surface, if 
nature had not provided a plan to prevent this. A 
layer, or layers, of secondary cork (rhytidoma) dips 
down from the surface of the bark through the mid- 
dle and later on through the inner bark and emerges 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 303 

again at some little distance; such secondary cork 
layers are shown in this section of cornus florida 
bark. When formed, nourishment or sap is cut off 
from the tissues outside, and the latter are sphacelated 
or necrosed, i. e., cut off from the living tree, much 
like a sphacelus in a spontaneous amputation or 
slough in an animal, or in the same manner as 
deciduous leaves are shed in fall. As far as external 
appearances go, these masses of fissured and necrosed 
bark tissue resemble the fissured masses of true cork 
previously described, and both formations are called 
" Borke " by German botanists ; no better term hav- 
ing been suggested, it has also been adopted by 
English writers and the term is frequently met with ; 
but care should be taken that no confusion be per- 
mitted by the similarity of the English terms " bork " 
and "bark." 
The " bork " of plants sometimes peels off in sheets 




or leaves when it is called "liber," from a Latin 
word for book. Liber is seen in the grape-vine, for 
example. " Liber " usually means inner bark. 



304 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

The falling off of the bork frequently leaves peculiar 
markings or depressions, the latter sometimes de- 
cidedly conchoidal in shape, or the bork itself may 
appear in nodules or warts, or it may peel off in more 
or less extended patches or flakes, any of which con- 
ditions may serve as aids for recognition* of the ident- 
ity of the several barks. 

In distinguishing between the barks of stems and 
roots we may also be aided by peculiar markings, 
traces of former leaf-scars or more rarely by the 
presence of buds on stem barks. 

The middle bark consists mainly of soft-walled 
parenchyma cells, which appear tangentially stretched 
in a transverse section. When cells which are not 
prosenchymatous in shape, that is, which are not 
long or fusiform, but of nearly equal diameters in all 
directions, become thickened by sclerogen layers, 
whether aggregated in large numbers as in the stones 
of fruits or scattered among surrounding parenchyma, 
these sclerenchyma cells are called " stone cells " ; a 
few such cells from a gritty particle in the flesh 
of the pear are figured on the preceding page, and 
the typical appearance of sclerenchyma cells will be 
readily recognized. Stone cells of similar character 
are found in the middle bark of various plants, either 
singly, scattered as in the Cinchonas or in large 
clusters or even in almost solid layers, as in the stone 
cells (so-called " star-cells") from 
Ceylon cinnamon, here shown. 

When present such stone cells 
afford means for identifying the 
drug both in its whole and in its 
powdered condition, and of course 
in differentiating between dif- 
ferent barks the absence of stone 
cells in the middle bark may be 
just as good a characteristic in 
some cases as the presence of them is in other cases. 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 305 

Another feature of the middle bark consists in the 
presence (or absence , as the case may be) of larger 
ducts, cells or spaces, latex-ducts, resin or oil cells or 
ducts, or air-spaces, etc. In fact cinchonas may be 
grouped on structural grounds into divisions based 
upon the presence or absence of both stone-cells and 
latex-ducts or air-spaces. 

The inner bark consists of alternate wedges of 
medullary rays which are narrow at the cambium 
zone and gradually widen and merge with the middle 
bark and of bast portions of fibro-vascular bundles 
which are widest at the cambium zone and gradually 
grow smaller and cease at the margin of the middle 
bark; in fact the demarcation between middle and 
inner bark is an imaginary line uniting the outer 
points of the bast bundles, as seen in a transverse 
section of bark. 

The medullary rays consist of cells similar to or 
identical with those of the middle bark (both being 
fundamental tissue), but they are frequently elongated 
in a radial direction near the cambium zone, gradu- 
ally becoming shorter in the radial direction until at 
or near the confluence with the middle bark the radial 
diameter is less than the tangential diameter and the 
cells are tangentially stretched as in the middle bark 
itself. 

The most characteristic features of the inner bark 
are found in the bast or phloem portions. In the 
living plant this part is actively concerned in the cir- 
culation of the fluids and special ducts, the so-called 
sieve-ducts, are here found. These ducts are formed 
of elongated cells, which are separated by partitions 
of thickened material deposited in a sieve-like man- 
ner, the thinner parts, or meshes, consisting of soft 
cell-wall through which osmosis can take place readily. 
To the pharmacognocist these ducts are of little or no 
importance, except that in the examination of 
powdered barks the appearance of fragments of the 



306 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



sieve-like plates might possibly be characteristic in 
some few instances. 

Most of the bast consists of parenchyma cells 
which are usually much smaller in diameter on 
transverse section, but elongated in the direction 
of the plant axis, therefore in a longitudinal direc- 
tion. Some barks, however, contain also a large 
proportion of prosenchymatous cells or strings of cells 
in the bast, which render the bark very tough, as in 

simaruba or mezereon. 
In still other cases the 
phloem may be more or 
less lignified, in which 
case the appearance of 
the anastomosing bast 
bundles, as seen on the 
inner surface of the bark 
of wild cherry, for ex- 
ample, may closely re- 
semble the outer appear- 
ance of the wood-cylin- 
der as figured under 
woods ; in fact the struc- 
tures o f phloem and 
xylem, correspond and 
fit each other accurately 
in the growing plant. 
In such cases the paren- 
chyma of the medullary 
rays often shrinks and 
forms fissures or depres- 
sions on the inner sur- 
face of the bark, especially if the bark is too rigid 
to curl or quill inwards. (Drawing enlarged 4 x.) 

Still another and perhaps the most characteristic 
structures when present are the bast-cells, which are 
found in the phloem or bast. On transverse section 
these appear to be similar to the stone cells of the 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 307 

.middle bark, as seen in this figure of bast-cells from 
calisaya bark, but on making a longitudinal section 
of the bark these bast-cells are seen to be pro- 
senchymatous in form, and they belong to the 




mechanical tissue-system, giving strength and sup- 
port. This is shown in the longitudinal section from 
calisaya bark, shown on the following page. 

The form, as well as the arrangement of the bast- 
cells, singly, in clusters, etc., may give peculiar 
appearance to the section of a bark ; in the transverse 
section of calisaya bark, just shown, we see the bast- 
cells irregularly scattered, either singly or in quite 
small clusters; while in the section of cotton-root 
bark the bast-ceils and bast-parenchyma are arranged 
in alternating layers, as shown on page 309. Bast- 
cells, therefore, are important diagnostic features in 
the determination of the identity of barks. 

Most of the parenchyma cells of the middle and 
inner bark contain starch, as well as the various 



308 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

medicinally valuable ingredients like alkaloids, etc. 
Some barks contain special mucilage cells, which are 
usually larger than the other parenchyma cells, or 
special oil cells, which are sometimes smaller than 
the other parenchyma cells. Alkaloids are contained 
in all the various cells, but probably mostly in the 
parenchyma of the inner bark. The outer bark, even 




when formed of necrosed tissues of inner bark, con- 
tains comparatively little of medicinal value and is 
therefore generally to be rejected if present in the 
form of " bork " ; but if not present as bork, it consti- 
tutes part of the drug and the whole bark is to be used. 

We are now prepared to study some facts in regard 
to the coarse appearances of bark, after which the 
principles of classifying them will be considered. 

It is of course well known that soft tissues of fruits, 
etc., become darkened when exposed to the oxidizing 
influence of air; a piece of peeled apple becomes 
yellowish and eventually brownish in a very short 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 309 

time after the protecting epidermis has been removed 
and dried fruits of almost all kinds are darker-colored 
than the fresh pulp or flesh of the corresponding 
fruits. So also the cambium tissue, which is made up 
of very delicate cells and which is usually white or 
colorless, is readily oxidized and becomes darkened by 
exposure to air. Nearly all barks, when first removed 




from the stems, branches or roots, are white on their 
interior surfaces, but the oxidation after removal 
changes their colors to those which are character- 
istic of the commercial barks; thus, canella alba 
remains nearly white, slippery elm becomes pale 
brownish-white, sassafras changes to reddish or 
bright rust-brown, cinnamon brownish and old 
buckthorn bark almost blackish or purplish-brown, 
so that the tints or colors of the interior sur- 
faces of barks become of diagnostic value. 



310 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



The appearance of the outer surfaces is hot greatly 
altered except when the natural outer portions are 
removed and only the inner bark sent into trade 
when the outer surface differs from the natural ap- 
pearance in the ungathered bark; this is the case, 
for instance, in Cassia and Ceylon cinnamons, in 
slippery elm, etc., which are described as "inner 
barks." 

As soon as a bark is separated from the stem or 
root it commences to lose moisture, and in drying out 
it necessarily shrinks. The shrinkage will be great- 
est in that part of the bark which contains the softest 
cells, therefore more in the inner than in the outer 
portions. If the outer portions are removed, the 
shrinkage will be even or nearly even from both sur- 
faces and the pieces of bark will remain more or less 
flat, as in slippery elm, but in some barks the flat 
pieces are so in consequence of pressure applied, as 
in the larger pieces of yellow or red cinchona, espe- 
cially as formerly brought from South America. 

As the softer and more succulent inner parts of 
this bark lose their moisture, this generally causes 
the bark to curl inward and according to the degree 
of curvature, different descriptive names are given to 
the barks. When the curvature is slight, as in a of 




the accompanying figures, the pieces are usually de- 
scribed as "curved' ' pieces, but as curvature may be 
and often is irregular, it is better to restrict the term 
"curved' ' to pieces of bark of irregular shapes and to 
use the word "troughs" (first proposed in this con- 
nection by the author of these notes in the Com- 



XOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



311 



paxion to thk TJ. S. P., in 1884) as a more con- 
venient, expressive and descriptive word to describe 
the pieces of bark curved in the regular manner 
shown in the figure mentioned. If the bark is rolled 
from one side into a tube or cylinder, this is called a 
"quill" or "simple quill' ' as in b, while if it is rolled 
inward from both sides it is called a "double quill" 
as in c. 

An unequal shrinking of bast and medullary rays 
will cause longitudinal wrinkles on the inner sur- 
faces, or, if the external layers will not yield readily, 
so as to form quills on drying, fissures will occur on 
the inner surface of the bark as already shown in a 
drawing of the inner surface of wild cherry bark ; or 
ridges may be formed, as in alnus rubra, the reason 
for which will be readily understood from an ex- 
amination of the following illustration. 

In some cases, as in cas- 
carilla, the bark does not 
separate readily from the 
wood, and must be chipped 
or cut from the'latter; in 
such cases some pieces may 
consist only of a portion of 
the bark, while other pieces 
may consist of more than 
the bark, having splinters 
of wood adherent on the 
inner surface, while yet 
i other pieces may have both 
conditions present in differ- 
ent parts. In some other 
kinds of barks the suber or 
epidermis may be very thin 
or even soft, while the bast 
is rigid, or as just explained, 
bits of wood may adhere ; the shrinkage in all these 
cases will take place probably most in the middle 




312 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

bark and irregular torsion will be exerted on both 
inner and outer surface tissues, the result being 
pieces of bark which are irregularly bent and twisted, 
and it is to this kind of pieces that we would limit 
the term "curved pieces/' already referred to. 

It will be readily seen that the main characteristics 
of structure, which determine color and shape of the 
pieces of commercial barks are inherent attributes 
of the plant from which each particular bark is ob- 
tained, and that while the size of the branch or stem 
or root from which the bark is obtained must in a 
limited way have influence on the shape (owing to 
more or less heavy layers of outer bark mainly) or the 
rapidity of drying may to some extent modify the 
tint of the color, or the season of the year at which 
the bark is gathered may influence the bark in vari- 
ous ways and especially as regards its constituents, 
yet the essential characteristics which are of phar- 
macognostic diagnostic value will necessarily be 
present in each bark, no matter when or how gath- 
ered. 

Various methods of classification have been used, 
of which those based on structural features are of 
course most desirable and exact ; but other classifica- 
tions have also been used and it is well to use them 
all in combination, as the barks present many diffi- 
culties in this regard. 

Schleiden, one of the founders of the modern study 
of pharmacognosy, in his work published in 1857, 
classified barks as follows : 

Ord. I. Aromatic Barks. 

Cinnamon, canella, etc. 

Ord. II. Bitter and Astringent Barks. 

A. Thin barks. — Willow, oak, horse chestnut, 
buckthorn, etc. 

B. Thick barks. — Simaruba, angostura, quassia, 
pomegranate, etc. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 313 

Ord. III. Acrid Barks. 
Mezereon. 

Ord. IV. Cinchona Barks. 

(Recognizable by the peculiar bast-cells ; this group 
is therefore based on structural characteristics.) 

Prof. Maisch, in his valuable work on Organic 
Materia Medica, classifies barks thus : 

Sect. I. Taste Bitter and Astringent. 

Cinchona, dogwood, magnolia, black alder, wild 
cherry, barberry, willow, witch hazel, cramp bark, 
black haw, etc. 

Sect. II. Taste Astringent. 

White oak, black oak, blackberry and pomegra- 
nate. 

Sect. III. Taste Bitter, Not Aromatic. 

White ash, simaruba, quassia, condurango, buck- 
thorn, cascara, Jamaica dogwood, butternut, 
quebracho, etc. 

Sect. IV. Taste Acrid and Pungent. 

Prickly ash, mezereon, cotton-root, coto, wahoo, 
quillaja, etc. 

Sect. V. Mucilaginous. 
Slippery elm. 

Sect. VI. Aromatic (Some Also Bitter) With 
Resin-Cells. 

Cinnamon, sassafras, canella, angostura, cas- 

carilla, etc. (This is the only group of barks 

which is based, in part at least, on structural 

characteristics.) 

Prof. Culbreth, in his work on Materia Medica, 

adopts Prof. Maisch's system, but the system is not 

applied in the book itself, 

A. Bitter and Astringent. 

B. Astringent. 

C. Bitter, Not Aromatic. 



314 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

D. Acrid or Pungent. 

K. Mucilaginous. 

F. Aromatic, With Oil or Resin-cells. 

Prof. Sayre proposes the following system, but does 
not apply it in his work on Materia Medica : 
Class I. Aromatic. 

A. Deprived of corky layer. 

B. With periderm. 
Class II. Acrid. 

Class III. Bitter. 

Class Iv. Bitter and Astringent. 

Class V. Astringent. 

Class VI. Mucilaginous. 

Unclassified. 

Prof. Berg (1851) furnished the first system of classi- 
fying barks strictly according to anatomical or struc- 
tural characteristics. To examine the barks accord- 
ing to his method, transverse sections must be made 
for microscopical examination. 

I. Bast with Scattered or Isolated Bast- 
cells, Sometimes in Radial Rows, Less 
Often in Small Groups. 
II. Bast Radially Striated. 

A. Bast indistinctly striated. 

B. Bast distinctly striated. 

C. Bast rays regularly wedge-shaped. 

D. Bast with horny bast fibers. 

III. Bast Quadratically Marked by Paren- 
chyma and Bast Rays which Cross Each 
Other. 

A. With horny bast fibers. 

B. Evenly marked without any distinct bast 

fibers. 
IV. Bast Tangenti ally Striated. 

A. Bast firm and dense, moderately thick, 
brown. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 315 

B. Bast thin or thick, white, mealy, finely 

striated. 

C. Bark thin, flexible, reddish-brown. 

V. Bast Nearly Even, Without Distinct 
Striatiox. 

A. With faint brownish wedges. 

B. Without wedges. 

VI. Bark Rasped, pale-brown. 
VII. Cork (" bork ") thick, pale-brown. 

In this system some of the subdivisions were made 
to accommodate the placing of single barks, and even 
the last group or class (vii) is thus created for only 
one article, cork, which, however, is not a drug in the 
proper sense of the word. 

In these Notes we adopt in the main the classifica- 
tion by Prof. Berg as follows : 

Bast with isolated bast cells. .40 

Bast radially striated 41 

Whole.. <! Bast tangentially striated. . . .42 
Bast quadratically striated. . .43 

Bast without striation 44 

Rasped. 45 

The characteristics of these groups will be described 
under the separate groups. 

GROUP XL- 
Cinchona Barks. 

This group consists of the Cinchona barks, the 
barks of Cinchona Calisaya, Cinchona officinalis, and 
of hybrids of these and of other species of Cinchona, 
of the natural order Rubiacecz. Only young barks 
have all three layers, while the older barks usually 
consist altogether of bast. 

When all three layers are present the outer layer 
consists of cork. The middle bark consists of paren- 
chyma cells, which are stretched tangentially and 



Barks. 



316 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

which contain starch and brownish-red coloring mat- 
ter; in this layer there ara occasionally found iso- 
lated stone cells, formed by the thickening of the 
cellwalls of some of the parenchyma cells, and also 
sometimes intercellular spaces or ducts which con- 
tain sap in younger barks or air in older barks. 
The inner bark, which is continuously formed from 
the cambium, consists of bast rays separated by 
medullary rays; the bast portion contains peculiar 
cells, bast-cells, which have so characteristic forms 
that they are ready means for recognizing Cinchona 
barks. The appearance of these cells is shown in 




transverse and in longitudinal sections in the accom- 
panying drawings, from sections of Calisaya bark ; 
under the polariscope a polarization cross is seen in 
these bast-cells, as illustrated on page 82. 

The Cinchona barks may be grouped according to 
whether they contain stone-cells or not in the middle 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



317 



bark, and each of these groups may be divided again 
according to whether they contain sap or air Spaces 
or not in the middle bark. It is beyond the scope of 




these notes, however, to go into details in this re- 
gard, further than giving a few examples : 

f C. amygdalifolia. 
( With sap-spaces < C. ovata. 

tC. umbellata. 



With 
stone 
cells 



< 



C. lancifolia. 

C. macrocalyx. 

C. microphylla. 

C. Calisaya. 

C. lutea. 

C. Uritusinga. 

C. lanceolata. 

C. micrantha. 

C. succirubra. 
The Cinchona barks have also been grouped as 
1 'Yellow Cinchona", "Bed Cinchona" and 'Tale 
Cinchona", of which the first two groups were official 



Without 
stone 



^Without sap-spaces. 



{ With sap-spaces. . 

i 



cells. ^Without sap-spaces.- 



318 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

in the U. S. P. of 1880 under the titles of "Cinchona 
Fi,ava" and "Cinchona Rubra" ; only C. Calisaya 
was recognized as "yellow Cinchona", and C.succi- 
rubra as "red Cinchona", pale Cinchona not being 
official. In the U. S. P. of 1870, however, pale Cin- 
chona, or "Cinchona Paujda" was also officially 
recognized, C. officinalis and C. micrantha being 
recognized as the sources. 

According to the TJ. S. P. of 1890, "Cinchona" 
( Calisaya) should contain not less than 5 per cent of 
total alkaloids of which 2.5 per cent should be 
quinine. "Cinchona Rubra" (C succirubra) should 
also contain 5 per cent of total alkaloids, but no spe- 
cial requirement in regard to the quinine strength is 
made. 

The following list states the origins of the different 
kinds of Cinchonas : 

Pale Cinchonas : Cinchona officinalis, C. micran- 
tha, C sub cor data * Cumbellulifera, C. purpurea, 
C. Uritusinga, C. Condaminea (Loxa), C. macrocalyx, 
C. glandulifera, C. microphylla, C. scrobiculata (young 
bark), Cnitida, C.ovata, etc. 

Red Cinchonas : C. succirubra, C. coccinea, etc. 

Yellow Cinchonas: C. Calisaya (China Regia), 
C. Boliviana, C. scrobiculata, C. pubescens, C. Ian- 
cifolia, C. cordifolia, C lutea, C. pilayensis, etc. 

The Cinchona barks contain several alkaloids, of 
which quinine is the most important ; in addition to 
quinine there are quinidine, cinchonine, cinchoni- 
dine, quinamine, conquinamine , etc. These alka- 
loids occur in combination with cinchotannic and 
quinovic acids, of which the first mentioned is astrin- 
gent. Then there are amorphous substances, quino- 
vin and cinchona red, the former of which is a bitter 
principle, while the latter is a product of cinchotannic 
acid, and is especially abundant in the "red barks". 

When about 0.1 or 0.2 gram of any cinchona bark 
is placed in a test-tube and then heated in the flame 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 319 

of a bunsen burner, the products of the destructive 
distillation condense on the sides of the glass in the 
upper part of the test-tube as drops of a red liquid, 
characteristic of cinchona barks. 

The Cinchonas are natives of South America, but 
are now cultivated in India, and the cheapness of 
barks aud alkaloids of Cinchona is due to the great 
success had in the East Indian plantations. 

In the U. S. P. of 1880, red and yellow Cinchonas 
were recognized under separate titles, the title 
" Cinchona' ' referring to the bark of any species of 
Cinchona containing at least 3 per cent of alkaloids. 
In the U. S. P. of 1890, "Cinchona" is the bark of 
Cinchona Calisaya (the yellow cinchona of 18S0), 
yielding not Itss than 5 per cent of total alkaloids 
and at least 2.5 per cent of quinine, and "Red Cin- 
chona' ' is described under a separate title. In pre- 
vious pharmacopoeias three cinchonas were recog- 
nized: Cinchona flava or yellow cinchona, Cinchona 
pallida or pale cinchona, and Cinchona rubra, or red 
cinchona. These three varieties we will study. 

Quills or troughs with brownish- 
gray cork; brownish-yeljow inter- 
nally Yellow Ciiicliona. 

Thick, flat pieces, usually without 
cork, splintery, fibrous, orange- 
yellow Yellow Cinchona. 

Two kinds, flat and quilled. Simi- 
lar to above kinds, except that 
color is deep reddish-brown . c Reel Cinchonas. 

Quills, smaller than other varieties, 
grayish-brown externally and in- 
ternally Pale Cinchona. 

Cinchona Flava. 

N. Yellow Cinchona, Yellow Peruvian Bark, Cali- 
saya Bark. — o. The bark of Cinchona Calisaya, Cin- 



320 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



chona officinalis and of hybrids of these and of other 
species of Cinchona; Rubiace<z. Formerly only Cin- 
chona Calisaya was recognized as the source of true 
yellow cinchona. — h. South America and East India; 
mainly, however, from Java. —©.The Javanese 
drug, which is the one most commonly used now, 




comes in quills, double quills, or troughs, of various 
lengths, often up to 30 or 40 cm. or more, the bark 
itself from 2 or 3 up to 5 mm. thick ; the outer sur- 
face is covered with grayish or brownish-gray cork, 
generally fissured both longitudinally and trans- 
versely, sometimes wrinkled or marked with warts or 
longitudinal ridges; the inner surface brownish- 
yellow or pale cinnamon-brown, and finely striate ; 
fracture abrupt in the outer layers and finely fibrous 
in the inner layers ; odor slight and taste bitter and 
astringent. The South American drug, when ob- 
tained from the smaller branches of the trees, resem- 
bles the drug just described; but when obtained from 
the trunks and larger branches of the trees, as is 
usually the case, it is called "flat" cinchona and 
differs in appearance. Flat yellow cinchona is in 
pieces of various sizes, up to 3 cm. or more thick, 
consisting mainly of bast, with cork (or rather 
"bork") occasionally present, but usually without 
cork, sometimes showing markings caused by the 
fissures in the cork or with conchoidal depressions 
when the bork was sphacelated by secondary suber or 
cork ; usually the cork was roughly removed with in- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



321 



struments and then both outer and inner surfaces 
appear alike, orange-yellow, splintery and fibrous ; a 
large proportion of the drug usually consists of small 
splinters and fragments in which inner and outer 
surfaces cannot be distinguished ; the cork ("bork") 
when present is composed mainly of dead, brown, 
parenchyma or bast, with darker or almost black 
secondary cork lines ; the bast-cells are arranged in 
radial lines, singly or in groups of two or more, short, 




Cinchona Calisai/a. 
thick and yellow. — c. Cinchona alkaloids, quinine, 
quinidine, cinchonine, cinchonidine and quinamine, 
of which quinine is the most important and should 
constitute at least one-half of the total alkaloids, of 
which the bark should contain at least 5 per cent; 
the other constituents are of no importance. — u. Bit- 
ter tonic, antiperiodic, febrifuge. Dose: 1 to 5 grams, 
best in fluid extract, or in the form of alkaloids and 
their salts. 

Cinchona Rubra. 
N. Red Cinchona. — o. The bark of Cinchona suc- 
cirubra; Rubiacece. It should contain at least 5 per 
cent of total alkaloids. — h. Native in South America ; 
cultivated in East India. — ». In quills, double quills 
or troughs, varying in length, from 2 to 5 mm. thick, 
covered on the outer surface with grayish-brown 
rough, warty and wrinkled cork, which is sometimes 
slightly fissured transversely ; fracture fibrous in the 
inner layers and the inner surface distinctly striate, 
deep reddish-brown ; taste bitter and odor very slight. 



322 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



The South American flat drug, now seldom met with, 
resembles the flat yellow bark, except in color, which 
is deep reddish-brown. — c. and u. Like those of yel- 




Civchona succtrubra. 

low Cinchona, except that quinine does not constitute 
quite so large a proportion of the total alkaloids. 

Cinchona Pallida. 

!N. Pale Cinchona, Loxa Bark, Crown Bark. — o. 
The bark of Cinchona officinalis and other varieties 
of Cinchona; Rubiacecz. — h. South America; the 
varieties furnishing the gray or pale bark are of in- 
ferior value and are not now cultivated in East India, 
with the exception of C. officinalis, which seems to 
have materially improved under cultivation. — 1>. Gen- 
erally in quills from the thickness of a goose- 




Cinchona ovata. 



quill to that of a finger, rarely larger; 
epidermis or cork grayish-brown, sometimes 
wrinkled, or with small and shallow fissures, 
the inner surface brown or grayish-brown; frac- 
ture fibrous; taste bitter and odor faint, but pecu- 
liar. — c. This bark is poor in the peculiar alkaloids, 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



323 



and especially so in quinine ; it is therefore seldom 
used except in the manufacture of alkaloids. — XJ. 
Used as an antiseptic astringent. It contains more 
cinchotannic acid than the other varieties of Cinchona 
and has been used as an ingredient of antiseptic 
poultices; also, internally as a bitter tonic. Dose: 2 
to 5 grams, best in the form of fluid extract. 

Cnprea Bark:. 

In the same forests in which the Cinchona trees are 
found in South America, there are also found allied 
trees (Remijia pedunculata; Rubiacec?} which yield 
Cinchona alkaloids, and which are sometimes even 
quite rich in quinine. The barks of these trees are 
brought into the trade as " Cuprea bark," but are not 
used lor pharmaceutical purposes, but only for the 
manufacture of the alkaloids. They are therefore of 
little or no importance to the pharmacist and need 
not be further described. 




GROUP XLI . 

In barks of this group the bast wedges and medul- 

larv rays alternate 



more or less regu- 
larly, as shown in the 
accompanying dia- 
grammatic illustra- 
tion. As the cells of the 
medullary rays (fun- 
damental tissue) usually contain starch, they are 
therefore lighter colored than the bast portions, so 
that this radial striatum can readily be seen with a 
low magnify iug power, or even with the unaided eye. 
A transverse section should be made and examined 
with a higher power, so that the cellular elements of 
the bark can be studied, some of which may be char- 
acteristic and diagnostic. 



324 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Thin, papery, compound quills, 
without cork, externally and in- 
ternally pale cinnamon-colored; 
pungently aromatic Cinnamom. Zeyl. 

Troughs or simple quills, without 
cork, both surfaces cinnamon- 
brown; pungently aromatic Cinnamom.Cassla. 

Large troughs or quills, externally 
with grayish-brown cork, inter- 
nally cinnamon-b r o w n ; pun- 
gently aromatic Cinnamom. Saig. 

Quills or irregular pieces, dull 
brownish, with peculiar trans- 
verse cracks and with white 
lichens with black spots on outer 
surface; taste bitter aromatic — Cascariiia. 

Irregularly curved pieces of vari- 
ous sizes, cork removed, both 
surfaces reddish- brown with a 
shade of carmine ; longitudinally 
striate, fracture short and] pale- 
pink or whitish; bitter astrin- 
gent Cornus Florida. 

Quills or broken pieces, externally 
whitish or pale-reddish with 
white scars, internally whitish; 
odor cinnamon-like and taste 
pungently bitterish Canella. 

Irregular pieces, outer surfaces 
often marbled, fragile, soft, rust- 
brown, with characteristic taste 
and odor {Sassafras. 

Quills or flat pieces, externally 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 325 

purplish-brown, showing small 
transverse scars, or rough; in- 
ternally longitudinally fissured; 
developing bitter almond taste 
on chewing '. Primus Virg. 

Long, coarsely fibrous, pale yellow- 
ish-brown pieces, often partially 
broken and folded upon them- 
selves; bitter Simaruba. 

Quills or troughs, externally dark 
brownish-gray with corky warts, 
internally orange-brown with 
narrow short longitudinal ridges; 
bitter astringent Alnus Rubra. 

Shallow troughs and irregular frag- 
ments, cojrk removed, toughly 
fibrous internally ; both surfaces 
yellowish-brown Magnolia. 

Troughs or quills, purplish-brown 
externally, internally yellowish- 
white, fibrous in inner layer ; 
bitter astringent . l Lirioclendron. 

Thin, tough, flexible bands, flattish 
or quilled, outer surface black- 
ish, inner pale-brown; mixed 
with small roots Rnbus, 

Thin fragments, outer surface 
brownish, inner surface yellow; 
bitter, stains saliva yellow Berberis. 

Irregular pieces, outer surface pale 
yellowish- brown with lighter 
spots, inner surface smooth and 
brownish-yellow; fracture abrupt, 
almost waxy Ptelea. 



326 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Quills or troughs, brownish-gray 
with whitish patches, marked 
with minute black dots and small 
spines ; striation rather obscure . xantboxyiuui, sr. 






Cinnamomnm. 

There are three varieties of cinnamon in common 
use and as they differ materially in appearance, all 

three will be sep- 
arately described. 
N". Cinnamomnm 
Cassia, Cassia Cin- 
namon or Cassia, 
Chinese Cin- 
namon. — o. T h e 
bark of the shoots 
of one or more un- 
determined spe- 
cies of Cinnamo- 
mnm; Laurinece. 
— H. This variety 
is a native of 
China. — 1>. In sin- 
gle and simple 
quills of various 
lengths of the size 
shown in the left- 
hand figure ; the 
bark is from 1 to 
2 mm. or more in 
thickness; the 
corky layer has 
been removed by scraping, leaving the outer surface 
somewhat rough ; both surfaces are characteristically 
brown (cinnamon-colored); the fracture is abrupt, 
nearly smooth and the transverse section shows 
transverse striation dictinctly, as well as many stone- 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



327 



cells (the so-called "stellate" cells of cinnamon) in 
the middle bark which forms the outer layer of the 
drug. 

x. Cmiiamomiim Zeyiaiiicum. Ceylon Cinnamon. — 
o. The inner bark from the shoots of Cinnamomum 
Zeylanicum ; Lanrinece. h. Ceylon. — 1>. This variety 
occurs in long quills consisting of several pieces 
rolled together, with ends stuck into each other so 
that the total length is nearly a meter; each com- 
pound quill has six or more barks of a thickness not 
much exceeding that of ordinary wrapping paper; the 
outer surface of the bark is marked with wavy lines of 
bast bundles, and both surfaces are pale-yellowish- 
brown; both surfaces are smooth and the fracture is 
short and somewhat splintery. 

The coarse appearance of this variety of cinnamon 




is shown in the right-hand figure above, and an 
enlarged appearance of a prepared transverse sec- 
tion is shown here ; the outer layer, or middle 



328 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

bark of this variety also contains many stone- 
cells, enough in iact, to constitute a continuous 
layer; the large white cells in the bast portion of 
the bark are mucilage cells, and the small darker 
round cells are bast-cells ; before clearing the section 
numerous oil-cells may be seen, but as these do not 
differ in size or otherwise from the ordinary paren- 
chyma cells, they cannot be distinguished in a 
cleared section. 

Bf. Cinnamomiim Saigonicum? Saigon Cinnamon.— 
O. The whole bark of an undetermined species of 
Cinnamomum ; Laurinece. 
H . China. — i>. In quills of 
various widely differing 
sizes, as seen in the draw- 
ings, which are natural 
size; the average thick- 
ness of the quills is about 
10 to 15 mm., but some- 
times more than twice that 
thickness ; the drawings of 
sections of two pieces of bark, also natural size, show 
the variation in the thickness of the individual pieces 
of bark ; in this variety the cork is present, the outer 
surface being gray or light grayish-brown with white- 
ish patches, more or less rough and warty, the inner 
surface granular, slightly striate and dark-brown; 
the ends of the pieces of drug show a shortening of 
the outer parts due to shrinking in the freshly broken 
pieces; fracture in the drug is abrupt, showing a large 
number of yellowish-white cell clusters near the 
outer part, just within the cork. 

All the cinnamon barks have a peculiar, very 
pleasant fragrant odor and a sweetish, warm and 
aromatic taste. Ceylon cinnamon "has both a finer 
and stronger aroma than Cassia cinnamon, the latter 
drug being the least valuable variety of cinnamon. 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



329 



Saigon cinnamon, however, has both the strongest 
and best aroma, and is the variety that should be 
preferred for medicinal purposes. — c. Volatile oil, 




some cinnamic acid, sugar, etc. — u. Mainly for culi- 
nary purposes. It was formerly supposed to control 
uterine hemorrhages, but as it was always combined 
with other more active remedies, it is doubtful 
whether it itself had any such action. Dose: 1 to 2 
grams, or ad libitum. 

Cascarilla. 
W. Cascarilla. — O. The bark of Croton Eluteria; 
Euphorbiacece. — be. The Bahamas. — i>. The drug 
consists of quills or troughs, from 2.5 to 10 cm. long 
and about 10 to 15 mm. thick, or broken into smaller 
pieces; the bark itself is about 2 mm. thick; the 
cascarilla imported into the United States consists 
mainly of young bark which has a dull brown color, 
both on the outer and inner surfaces; the outer 



330 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



surface is usually much fissured transversely and 

partly or entirely covered 

with a white lichenous 

growth with black spots; 

the inner surface is 

smooth; the fracture is 

abrupt, resinous, and shows 

distinctly the transverse 

striation of the bast bundles 

and medullary rays; among 

the parenchyma cells of 

the bark which contain 

starch there are scattered 

numerous brown oil or 

resin cells; bast fibers are 

few; odor is slightly 

aromatic, but on burning 

becomes strongly fragrant; 

the taste is strongly bitter 

and aromatic. — c. About 

1 per cent volatile oil, cas- 

carillin (a bitter neutral 

principle), and about 15 

per cent of resin. — u. Stimulant stomachic. It is 

also often used, either alone or in combination with 

other substances, as a tobacco flavor. Dose: About 

2 grams. 

Cornus. 

jr. Dogwood Bark, Boxwood Bark. — o. The inner 
bark of the root of Cornus florida; Cornacece. — h. 
North America. — 1>. In irregularly curved pieces or 
troughs from which the coarse gray layer has been 
removed ; about 2 to 3 mm. thick ; both outer and in- 
ner surfaces striated and reddish or reddish-brown, 
with often a decided tint of rose color or crimson ; the 
fracture, longitudinal and transverse, is abrupt, 
showing yellowish clusters of stone-cells ; a prepared 
transverse section has numerous radiating lines of 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



331 



medullary rays, the clusters of stone- cells being ir- 
regularly dispersed in the parenchyma of the phloem, 
and frequently adhering portions of "bork" show 




tangential lines of secondary suber or cork; the 
taste is bitter and astringent, odor none. — c. Cornin 
(or cornic acid), tannin, etc. — u. Astringent bitter 
tonic ; slightly febrifuge. Dose : 1 to 5 grams, best in 
fluid extract. 

The barks of Comus sericea (Swamp Dogwood) and 
Comics circinata (round-leaved Dogwood) resemble 
dogwood bark, but are thinner and usually quilled; 
they are of little importance, as they are very seldom 
used medicinally. 

Canella. 

X. Canella. — o. The bark of the stem of Canella 

alba ; Canellacea'. h. 

West Indies. — ». Hard, 

white quills, troughs, or 

i rregul a r fragments, 

about 2 to 4 mm. thick ; 

the outer surface is freed 

from the outer bark, and 

pale brownish-red or 

rownish-yellow, smooth 

except that it is marked 

with Ions:, white, oval 

scars; barks from older branches are rough on the 




332 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



outside, but constitute only a small proportion of 
the drug; the inner surface is white, smooth and 
finely striate ; it breaks with an even granular white 
fracture, showing numerous yellowish resin cells in 
the middle bark ; a prepared section shows the mid- 
dle bark to be bounded outwardly by a layer of 
cubical, lemon-yellow stone-cells, with a parenchyma 
consisting mainly of starch-cells with numerous in- 
terspersed large, round or oval, yellow resin-cells, 
while the inner bark is radiately striated with medul- 
lary rays, and shows bast fibers ; the odor is spicy, 
resembling cassia (it is called " white cinnamon" in 
German) and the taste is bitter and pungently aro- 
matic. — c. Contains about 1 per cent volatile oil and 
about 20 per cent of acrid aromatic resin. — u. Stimu- 
lant tonic similar in action to other aromatics ; used 
mainly to prevent griping of purgative remedies. 
Dose: 0.5 to 2.5 grams. 

Sassafras. . 
jr. Sassafras, Sassafras Bark. — o. The inner bark 
of the root of Sassafras varii- 
folium; Laurinece. — H. North 
America, especially United 
i States. — ». In irregular frag- 
ments deprived of the corky 
layer or bork; about 3 mm. 
thick; the outer surface from 
which the bork has been re- 
mo ved is sometimes quite 
prettily marbled or grained in 
light and dark gray and rust- 
brown, owing to the different 
colors of the parenchyma and 
the secondary suber of the 
bork, as shown in a drawing 
of a piece of the drug; the 
inner surface is smooth and 
rust-brown; fragile, soft with short corky fracture, 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 333 

not fibrous ; a transverse section of the soaked bark 
examined by reflected light shows no structure, except 
when the bork is still present, when the outer part 
of the bark is distinctly striated in a tangential direc- 
tion by the light-colored bands of secondary suber, 
and the drug is apt to be mistaken for one be- 
longing to Group 42 ; in a thin transverse section the 
radiating lines of the medullary rays are very distinct, 
especially if the section is examined while it is 
immersed in the solution of caustic potassa before 
the color has all been removed, because it is dis- 
charged first from the medullary rays, which then 
are light-colored among the deep-red parenchyma; 
the prepared section shows many medullary rays 
and some bands of secondary suber, and numerous 
reddish or yellowish oil-cells and isolated pale 
yellow bast cells ; fragrant, sweetish aromatic. — c. 
About 3 per cent of volatile oil, traces of tannin, 
etc. — u. Sassafras is popularly much esteemed as a 
"blood purifier, " or alterative; it is a stimulant 
diaphoretic, especially when administered in the 
form of copious draughts of hot infusion, the hot 
water no doubt deserving some of the credit for 
the action. More commonly used merely as a flavor- 
ing agent. Dose: Usually ad libitum, of the tea. 

Primus Yirsiiiiiaiia. 

o. Wild Cherry, Wild Cherry Bark.— w. The bark 
of Prunus Virginiana; Rosacece. The drug should 
be collected in autumn. — h. North America, 
especially United States. — ». The bark of medium 
sized branches should be used, that of the large stems 
and roots or of small twigs being inferior. Wild 
Cherry bark occurs in troughs or irregular pieces of 
various sizes, but should be at least 2 mm. thick; 
if from large stems or roots the corky layer is usually 
removed and the pieces are flat, with the outer 
surface rough, uneven, only obscurely marked with 



334 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



the peculiar transverse scars, and rust-brown; if 

from medium-sized or 
small branches the bark 
is smooth, greenish, yel- 
lowish or reddish-brown 
and marked with numer- 
ous elevated, transverse, 
light-colored, peculiar 
and characteristic scars 
or warts, the thin cork 
or epidermis showing a 
strong tendency to peel 
off and curl up; the 
inner surface is pale cin- 
namon-colored, striated 
or more frequently longi- 
tudinally fissured, a s 
shown in the figure, 
showing the inner sur- 
face enlarged ; the other 
illustration shows the 
outer surface, natural 
size ; the drug has little 

or no odor when dry, but after macerating with 

water or chewing, it gives a strong 

bitter almond odor; the taste is 

bitter and astringent with the 

aroma of bitter almonds, — €. Two 

principles resembling the amygdalin 

and emulsin of bitter almonds, bu^ 

not identical with them, which react 

on each other in the presence of 

water and yield hydrocyanic acid 

and oil of bitter almonds; a bitter 

glucoside, tannin, etc. — u. Bitter 

stomachic and tonic, with slight 

sedative effect, the latter making it 

a popular remedy for colds and 






NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 335 

coughs. Dose: 2 to 5 grams, best in form of syrup 
or fluid extract. 

Simaruba. 

N. Simaruba. — o. The bark of the roots of Sima- 
ruba officinalis and ,S. medicinalis; Simarubece . — h. 
South America and West Indies. — 1>. Flat pieces, 
troughs or rarely quills, often up to a meter long, 

from 3 to 6 mm. 
thick; exter- 
nally rough, 
wrinkled, with 
whitish suber, 
or the latter 
more generally 

mmmm^^L^ __^a rU bbed off, m 

which case the outer surface is pale fawn-colored, 
rough with coarse stone-cells and tough fibers; in- 
ner surface lighter-colored and striate or fibrous ; 
bast toughly fibrous, arranged in somewhat ob- 
liquely radiating lines, separated by rather broad 
medullary rays, as shown in the drawing of a trans- 
verse section by reflected light, enlarged; odorless 
and intensely and persistently bitter. — c. Volatile 
oil and resin in very small proportion, a bitter prin- 
ciple (probably quassin) , etc. — u. A bitter tonic. 
Often used in diarrhoeas and dysenteries, in which 
diseases it is often of marked value, especially when 
they are due to an atonic condition of the alimentary 
tract. Dose : 2 to 5 grams. 

Alims Rubra. 

W. Tag Alder. — o. The bark of Alnus serrulata; 
BetidacecE. — h. North America, — 1>. In quills or 
troughs, externally dark brownish-gray, marked by 
corky warts which tend to run together transversely ; 
the inner surface is orange-brown and marked by 
scattered, coarse, narrow, short, longitudinal ridges, 
or striate, as shown in the illustration of the inner 



336 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



surface; the drawings of the whole bark are of 
natural size, that of the section is enlarged 5 times ; 
odor feeble, taste bitter and astringent. — c. Tannin, 





etc. ; no exact analysis has been made. — u. Astrin- 
gent. Also reputed to be alterative and emetic. 
Dose: 2 to 5 grams, best given as fluid extract. 

Magnolia. 

N. Magnolia. — o. The 
barks of Magnolia glauca, 
M. acuminata and M. tripe- 
tala. — h. Southern 'United 
States. — i>. The bark from 
young branches is in quills 
or troughs, thin, orange- 
brown and glossy or light- 
gray, with scattered warts 
or somewhat fissured ; in- 
ternally pale yellowish- 




NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



337 




white or pale brownish and smooth; fracture abrupt, 
slightly fibrous in the inner layers; in bark from older 
branches or stems, the bork, if present, is dark-gray 
and deeply fissured, but as found in the trade the outer 
layer of the bark is generally removed and the drug 
consists only of the 
inner bark, which 
is often from 5 to 
6 mm. thick ; both 
inner and outer 
surfaces are of a 
pale yellowish- 
brown color, the 
outer surface ap- 
pearing to be some- 
what granular, 
while the inner is 
more fibrous ; the illustrations show the transverse 
sections of Magnolia glauca, that on page 336 be- 
ing the entire bark with bork, the other the inner 
bark alone as most generally seen in the trade, both 
showing a smooth cut section examined by reflected 
light with a Coddington lens ; the drug has no odor ; the 
taste is bitter, astringent and pungent, — c. Tasteless 
glucoside, tannin, resin, etc.; analysis not complete. 
Judging by the taste, the bark from small twigs is 
better than that of the larger stems, for it is 
more pungent and bitter. — u. Tonic, febrifuge and 
diaphoretic. Dose: 2 to 5 grams, in decoction or 

fluid extract. 

Iiiriodendron. 

Bf. Tulip-tree Bark. — o. The bark of the branches 
of Liriondendro?i tulipifera ; Magnoliacece. — h. 
United States. — ». The bark of smaller branches 
comes in thin quills or troughs, the bark being about 2 
mm. thick ; the outer surface is grayish or blackish- 
brown with often a purplish shade, longitudinally 
wrinkled so that the wrinkles sometimes resemble 



338 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 







elongated meshes ; internally yellowish-white, smooth, 
or somewhat fibrous; pieces of bark from larger 
branches are up 
to 6 mm. thick, 
with a deeply fissured 
bork of a grayish- 
brown color often 
with a greenish tint 
due to lichenoid 
growths ; a smooth 
transverse cut shows 
nearly one-half of the 
thickness of the bark 
to be corky layer, of 
a light-brown color on section, and the inner 
part, rather more than half the thickness, to be 
pale-yellowish or white; the bark of older stems or 
branches is usually deprived of its corky layer and 
is white on both outer and inner surfaces; by aid of 
a lens the inner bark shows fibrovascular bundles 
alternating with medullary rays so as to give a 
plainly radially striated appearance, and the in- 
dividual bast-bundles appear beaded; this is shown 

in the larger drawing, 
showing a section of the 
bark by reflected light, 
enlarged; the other il- 
lustration is a section of 
a bundle, much enlarged, 
showing minute struc- 
ture to which this beaded 
appearance is due, and 
a small fragment of one 
of the bast-bundles is 
also shown in longitudi- 
nal section; no odor, 
taste bitter and slightly 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



339 



astringent. — c. Various resins, a glucoside, tannin, 
etc. — u. Tonic, febrifuge and vermifuge ; seldom used. 
Dose : 5 to 10 grams, in infusion or fluid extract. 

Ratals. 

X. Blackberry Root Bark. — o. The bark of the roots 
of Rubus villosus (blackberry), R. Canadensis (dew- 
berry), and R. trivialis; Rosacea. — h. United 
States. — ». Thin, tough, flexible bands, sometimes 
flattish, more often quilled; the outer surface blackish 
or blackish-gray, inner surface pale-brown, often 
with strips of white wood adhering ; fracture rather 
tough and fibrous, whitish ; a large proportion of the 
drug consists of the smaller rootlets entire ; a section 

of the bark shows the 
bast in rather broad, 
obliquely radiate wedges, 
some of which are made 
up of the bast of two or 
more bundles; the drug 
is odorless, with astrin- 
gent and Slightly bitter taste. — c. 10 to 12 p. c. tan- 
nin, the bitter glucoside villosin, etc. — u. Astringent 
tonic. Dose: 5 to 10 grams, best as fluid extract. 

Berberis. 

N. Barberry Bark. — o. The bark of Berberis vul- 
garis; Berberidacece.— h. Europe and Asia; natural- 
ized in America. — ». Thin fragments, outer surface 
brown or brownish-gray, inner surface yellow, separ- 
ating in thin shreds or sheets; a clean-cut section of 
a soaked piece shows 
an outer dark- brown 
corky layer, a middle 
bark of light yellow 
color, abruptly marked 
off from darker-yellow 
or brownish inner bark, 
which is plainly radiate with dark-brown or almost 





340 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



black bast bundles, so arranged that two of them 
often join in almost O-shape. The drug in bulk 
has a slightly herbaceous odor and a pure, bitter 




N. Wafer Ash Bark, 



taste, and stains the saliva yellow. — c. Alkaloids 

berberidine and oxyacanthin, etc. — u. Bitter 

tonic and stomachic; in large doses laxative 

with supposed cholagogue effect. Dose: 2 to or 

8 grams. 

Ptelea. 

Shrubby Trefoil Bark, Hop- 
tree Bark. — o. The bark of 
Ptelea trifoliata; Rutacece. — 
H. North America. — j>. In 
irregular pieces, troughs or 
quills of various sizes, the 
bark itself up to 4 mm. thick ; 
the outer surface pale yel- 
lowish-brown with grayish- 
white markings, with trans- 
verse ridges and grooves and 
occasional transversely ellip- 
tical patches or depressions, 
the inner surface smooth and 
brownish-yellow ; fracture ab- 
rupt, cutting with a waxy feel ; 
on smooth cut section the 
corky layer i.3 not well marked, being of same pale- 




NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



341 




yellowish color as the middle bark, the inner bark 

is striated with ir- 
regularly radiating 
bast bundles of a 
slightly darker color 
than the parenchyma 
of the middle bark 
and the medullary rays ; faint, not characteristic odor, 
and a mucilaginous, slightly acrid and bitter taste. — 
c. No analysis. — u. Stomachic tonic. Dose: 0.5 to 
2 grams, best in fluid extract. 

Northern Prickly Ash Bark, the bark of Xanthoxy- 
lum Americanum, shows radiating striation of bast, 
but as the Southern Prickly Ash Bark has no well 
marked striation, and it is not very plain even in the 
Northern variety, this bark will be more fully de- 
scribed under Group 45. 



GROU P XLII . 

The barks of this group show on a smooth-cut 
transverse section, especially if moistened with 
diluted liquor potassa, either continuous or inter- 
rupted rows which are at right angles to the medul- 
lary rays, or parallel with the corky layer, giving the 
appearance as in the diagrammatic illustration ; the 
medullary rays are 
not well marked, 
although traces of 
tli cm can be seen, 
and in some in- 
stances even quite 
plainly, but when 
the medullary rays make quite distinct radial lines 
the bark would belong in the next group ; thus the 
stem bark of Juglans, which generally shows only the 
tangential lines distinctly, in some pieces shows quad- 
ratically striated, although the checkered appearance 




342 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

is very plain in the root bark. Nearly all barks show 
their characteristic markings when a piece is freshly 
broken across, then cut smooth with a sharp knife 
and examined with a Coddington lens, but some 
barks require soaking before cutting, and sometimes 
even moistening with dilute solution of potassa to in- 
crease the contrast in color between the medullary 
and bast rays. It is advisable, also, to cut as thin a 
section as possible from the end of a piece of bark 
previously soaked in water or diluted alcohol, place 
this section in a drop of liquor potassa on a slide and 
cover with a cover-glass, and examine, while clear- 
ing, with a lens of rather low power ; the markings 
often appear plainer while clearing, than when the 
section has been completely cleared. Making such a 
slide need not take more than one or two minutes of 
time. 

Nearly flat massive bark, with 
thick corky layer deeply 
fissured; gray or grayish- 
brown on outer and reddish 

on inner surfaces Aspidosperma. 

Thin flexible bands or quilled 
pieces; brownish on outer 
and whitish on inner sur- 
faces ; separable into, thin 

layers Gossypii Radicis Cortex. 

Long, thin flexible bands, 
rolled into bundles, yellow- 
ish on outer and silky-white 

on inner surfaces. . . '. Mezereum. 

Quilled pieces or troughs ; 
ash-gray outer and whitish 
or pale tawny inner sur- 
faces. Euonyimis. 

Flattish pieces or troughs; 
ash-gray outer and pale- 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 343 

brown or whitish inner 

Surfaces Viburnum Opuliis. 

Thin quills or troughs, gray- 
brown outer and pale-brown 
and striated inner surfaces . Cimciurango. 
Coarse quills, troughs or ir- 
regular pieces, toughly fib- 
rous ; outer surface gray or 
blackish-brown with many 
transverse ridges, inner sur- 
face smooth or fibrous. . . . Piscidia. 
Thick quills or troughs with 
coarsely fissured grayish- 
brown corky layer, or with- 
out bork ; yellowish-brown 
and striated inner surface . Aistonia Constricta. 
Small contorted quills or 
troughs, usually irregularly 
broken ; occasionally whole 
pieces of root ; their brown- 
ish corky layer usually par- 
tially detached and adher- 
ent in Shreds Rhois Glabrae Cort. 

Large troughs or flat pieces, 
smooth, dark -brown and 
mottled on outer surface; 

bork generally absent Jugians (tree) . 

Aspidosperma . 
K. Quebracho, Quebracho-bianco, white Quebracho. 
O. The bark of Aspidosperma Quebracho-bianco; 
Apocynacecz. — h. Brazil and Argentine Republic. — 
». Large pieces slightly curved or nearly flat, from 
1 to 3 cm. thick, the rough bork and the inner bark 
being of about equal thickness, The corky portion 
of the bark is deeply fissured, both longitudinally and 
transversely, the fissures being quite wide and of 
grayish color from lichenous growths, while the ele- 
vated parts of bark are grayish -brown to rust-brown. 



314 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



On section the corky layer is yellowish-brown to rust- 
brown, with dark tangential lines of secondary suber 




and rows of whitish clusters of sclerenchyma cells 
showing that the outer layer is bork. The inner 
bark is fawn-colored and marked with fine longitudi- 
nal lines on the inner surface, which is otherwise 
nearly smooth; on section the inner bark shows 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 345 

numerous whitish groups of aclerenchyma cells 
arranged in tangential rows. The fracture is fibrous, 
irregular. No odor and taste intensely bitter. — c. 
Six alkaloids, of which aspiJospermine and que- 
brachineare the most important. — r. Used to relieve 
dyspnoea, from whatever cause it may arise. Tonic 
and antispasmodic in asthma. Dose: 1 to 5 grams. 



The bark figured herewith is sometimes found in 
trade as a substitute for true quebracho. It is Que- 



346 NOTES ON PHABMACOGNOSY. 

bracho Colorado, dark quebracho or false quebracho, 
obtained from Loxopterygium Lorentzii; Terebinth- 
acecz. It is heavy, outer surface dark-brown and 
fissured, light-brown on inner surface, which is marked 
by a great number of prominent longitudinal ridges. 
It is about 12 mm. thick. The transverse section 
appears tangentially striated from secondary suber 
and rows of bast-cells, and sometimes the light- 
colored medullary rays are distinct enough to give a 
quadratically checkered appearance. In the specimen 
I have seen, the fissures in the bork contained many 
tangled fibers, probably the rootlets of some climbers. 
Odorless, taste slightly resinous and astringent, not 
bitter. Valueless. 

Oossypii Radicis Cortex. 
N. Cotton Eoot Bark. — o. The bark of the root of 




Gossypium herbaceuin ; Malvacece. h. The cotton 
plant is indigenous to subtropical Asia and Africa and 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY, 



347 



is cultivated in America. The drug is gathered in the 
United States, south of the Ohio Eiver. — ». The 
drug consists of thin, flexible, flat or quilled bands; 
the outer surface is brownish-yellow, with slight 
longitudinal ridges or meshes, sparsely scattered small, 
round, black dots, or short transverse lines, and dull 
orange-brownish patches where the thin outer bark is 
abraded; the inner surface is tawny or whitish, finely 
striate and of silky luster ; quite a large proportion of 
the drug consists of the smaller roots entire. The 
transverse section shows the bast-fibers in clusters 
forming tangential lines ; these bast-fibers are long 
and tough and the bast can be separated into thin 
shreds or layers; no odor; taste very slightly acrid 
and faintly astringent. — c. Resin, fixed oil, tannin 
and a deep-red coloring matter. — u. Employed as an 
emmenagogue. It acts on the uterus similarly to 
ergot, and is used in cases of suppressed or scanty 
menstruation. In large doses it may produce abor- 
tion, and in fact is often administered with the inten- 
tion of bringing about this effect. Dose : 2 to 5 grams, 
best as fluid extract. 

3Iezerenm. 
M. Mezereum, Mezereon Bark. — o. The bark of 
Daphne Mezereum and other species of Daphne; 
Thymelacecz. — h. Northern Europe and Asia, also 
Canada and New England. — 1>. Mezereum occurs in 
long thin bands, very flexible and tough, usually 

rolled into discs 
or bundles ; the 
outer surface 
consists of red- 
dish-brown 
cork, which is 
easily separable 
in shreds, show- 
ing the greenish 
middle bark underneath; the cork is marked with 




348 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

many round or slightly transverse scars which are 
dark-colored, but often abraded and then yellowish- 
brown and lighter-colored than the cork ; the inner 
surface of the bark is whitish and silky fibrous ; on 
transverse section the cork and thin middle bark 
usually tear, the inner bark or bast separating from 
them ; in the latter the bast bundles are arranged in 
somewhat irregular tangential lines, as indicated in 
the illustration; the bast-cells are very long and 
tough ; the drug has no odor, but a very acrid taste, 
and the powder is an extremely irritating sternutatory. 
— €. A soft, brown, acrid resin, an acrid volatile oil, 
the glucoside daphnin, etc. — u. Mezereum is esteemed 
as an alterative stimulant in chronic syphilitic, scrof- 
ulous, rheumatic and cutaneous affections; generally 
in combination with sarsaparilla and other so-called 
blood purifiers. Dose: 0.5 to 1 gram, best as fluid ex- 
tract. 

Enonymns. 

ST. Wahoo. — o. The bark of the root of Euonymus 
atropurpureus ; Colastrinece. — h. United States. — 1>. 
Quills or troughs and irregular pieces, the bark itself 
being about 2 mm. thick ; the outer surface is gray, 
with dark ridges or patches; the inner surface is 
whitish or tawny, and smooth ; the fracture is abrupt 
through the outer part of the bark, but the bast is 
slightly fibrous from silky fibers, which are quite deli- 
cate and not at all tough ; the smooth-cut transverse 

surface is whitish and 
mottled with brown, 
with t ange n tial 
brownish lines in the 
inner bark, as shown 
in the drawing; the 
odor is faint, taste 
sweetish - bitter and 
acrid.— C. A bitter 
amorphous substance called euonymin, extractive, etc. 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 349 

The "euonymin" of trade is merely a powdered ex- 
tract. — u. Said to be tonic, laxative, alterative, diu- 
retic and expectorant. Dose: 1 to 5 grams. 

A bark occurs in the trade under the name of 
"Southern Wahoo," which comes in chips evidently 
removed from the branches by knives, so that it has 
thin edges; small, thin troughs bent longitudinally 
outwardly, occasionally with bits of wood adhering ; 
grayish-brown, lighter-colored on inner surface, wood 
whitish; corky layer reticulately or longitudinally 
wrinkled, with occasional small warts ; the transverse 
smooth-cut section shows numerous clusters of scler- 
enchyma stone-cells arranged in irregularly tangen- 
tial rows. This bark may be the bark of Ulmus alata 
(winged elm) which is called " wahoo" in the 
Southern part of the United States, although the 
statement of the National Dispensatory that this bark 
is used to make ropes does not agree with the brittle 
aud abrupt fracture of the bark under consideration. 
At all events, it is not the " wahoo " of the Pharma- 
copoeia, and should not be used as " wahoo." 

Viburnum Opulus. 

N. Cramp Bark. — o. The bark of Viburnum opu- 
lus; CaprifoliacecB . — h. Northern temperate zone, in 
America, Europe and Asia. — ». In quills or troughs, 
10 to 25 cm. long, the bark itself being about 1 to 2 
mm. thick ; the outer layer is greenish or brownish- 
gray but peels off easily and shows the reddish-brown 
inner bark underneath ; the inner surface is grayish or 
slightly brownish; fracture of young bark brittle, of 
older pieces tough, the bast separating into layers ; 
on transverse section the bast is seen to be tangen- 
tially striated with rows of almost rectangular clusters 
of cells which are dark by reflected light, but transpa- 
rent in thin sections by transmitted light ; the drug is 
inodorous, with pungent and bitter taste. The illus- 
trations show both old and young barks entire, and a 



350 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



smooth-cut section by reflected light.— c. A bitter 
principle, pungent resin, etc.— c. Antispasmodic, use- 
ful especially in 
uterine colic, 
cramps in hysteri- 
cal women, etc. 
Dose : 1 to 5 grams 
in infusion or in 
fluid extract. 

Cundiirango. 

K. Condurango. 
o. The bark of Gon- 
olobus Cunduran- 
go; Asclepiadacece. 
— H. Ecuador and 
Peru. Said to be 
often mixed with 
the barks of other 
varieties of Asclep- 
iadacese, etc. — ». 
In quills and 
troughs about 5 to 
10 cm. long, the 
bark itself from 2 
to 6 mm. thick ; the 
outer surface is 
[grayish-brown, 
I with here and there 
Iremains of silvery 
[gray epidermis, 
and occasional 
whitish or ash-gray patches of lichens, and with 
occasional small, black lichenous dots ; the corky layer 
with shorter or longer transverse ridges or warts, but 
more commonly longitudinally wrinkled and 
fissured; the cork chips off in places, showing the 
tawny middle bark underneath ; the inner surface is 




NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



351 




lighter-colored, tawny or yellowish-white, and longi- 
tudinally striated with 
elevated lines, and occa- 
sionally irregularly dot- 1 
ted with dirty grayish- 
brown spots ; the fracture 
is granular, with a few 
projecting fibers nearer 
the outer surface; a 
smooth-cut section, espe- 
cially of a soaked piece, shows as in the illustration, 
the outer part brownish, gradually shading to grayish- 
white within, and showing comparatively large and 
few clusters of stone-cells arranged in more or less 
well-marked tangential rows ; the parenchyma con- 
tains starch and crystals of oxalate of calcium. Nearly 
odorless and but faintly bitter. — c. A peculiar gluco- 
side, some tannin, etc. — u. When first introduced it 
was heralded to be a sure cure for cancer, but unfor- 
tunately it has proved worthless as a remedy for this 
disease. It has probably merely slightly tonic effects 
and is medicinally of very inferior value. Dose; 
About 2 grams. 

Rhois Giabrse Cortex. 

If. Sumach Bark. — o. The bark of Rhus glabra; 

Anacardiacece . The 
root bark is preferred. 
— H. North America. 
— ». Quills or troughs, 
o r irregular some- 
what twisted or con- 
torted fragments, 
sometimes enclosing 
pieces of wood; the 
corky layer, which 
often hangs in shreds, 
i s chocolate - brown 
with scattered red- 




352 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



dish-brown warts ; the 
gray wherever the 
corky layer is abrad- 
ed ; the inner surface 
is smooth and of a 
light cinnamon- 
brown color ; fracture 
abrupt and grayish- 
white, the smooth-cut 
section showing by 

I 



middle bark appears yellowish- 





JUGLANS. 



reflected light 
the structure 
shown in the 
illustration, the 
corky layer 
thin, the mid- 
dle bark rather 
thick, light-yel- 
lowish-white 
with yellowish- 
brown spots, 
and the inner 
bark with dis- 
tinct tangential 
al ternati n g 
brownish and 
whitish lines; 
odor none, taste 
bitter astrin- 
gent. — c. Tan- 
nin, etc. — u. 
Astringent ton- 
ic, useful for 
both internal 
and local use. 
Dose: 2 to 5 
grams. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



353 



Juglans. 

N. Butternut Bark. — o. The bark of Juglans titt- 
ered; Juglandacece. The inner bark of the root 
should be preferred, but bark of the stem also is 
found in the trade; usually the two barks are sold 
separately. The bark should be collected in autumn. 
— H\ North America. — b. In flat, coarsely fibrous 
pieces or troughs, up to 20 cm. long and from 3 to 5 
mm. thick, but occasional pieces with bork may be 
much thicker ; the drug is usually deprived of all bork 
and is grayish-brown, mottled with darker-colored 
markings and lighter-colored patches, as shown in the 
drawing ; the inner surface is dark-brown, smooth or 
striate and fibrous, 
but the fibers are not 
tough, so that the 
fracture is short and 
cutting with a knife 
shows all parts to 
be quite soft; a 
smooth-cut section of 
a thick piece (about 
6 mm.) is shown in 
the illustration, with 
a bit of bork (secon- 
dary cork and sphace- 
lated inner bark) 
attached, and the 
balance of thickness is made up of alternate layers 
of parenchyma and rows of bast-cells which form 
practically continuous lines ; in a section of thinner 
pieces the outer portion is middle bark of a light- 
brown color and the inner bark, somewhat separately 
marked off from the middle bark, shows the character- 
istic tangential lines ; occasionally in the smooth-cut 
end it is possible to find checkered or quadratically 
marked parts, but this usually requires a finished sec- 
tion, which has been cleared and is examined by 




354 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



transmitted light, when it appears almost always 
checkered, and would be referred to group 43 ; odor 
faint and taste slightly acrid and bitter. — c. Nucin 
(juglandic acid), 14% of fixed oil, a little tannin, etc. 
— U. Laxative and tonic. Dose: 5 to 10 grams, best 
in infusion or fluid extract. 

Piscidia. 
Iff, Jamaica Dogwood Bark. — o. The bark of Pis- 
cidia Erythrina; Leguminosce. — h. West Indies. 
— ». In coarse quills or troughs, or irregular pieces, 
about 15 to 20 cm. long, very fibrous and torn, the 
bark itself being from 4 to 6 mm. thick; the outer 
surface is marked with transverse ridges or warts, the 
edges of which are somewhat raised so that they look 
like oval or elongated grooves with elevated margins ; 
the corky layer, when present, is of chocolate-brown 
color with orange-brown 
spots, but more commonly 
the corky layer is absent; 
where the corky layer is 
broken away the surface ap- 
pears brownish -gray, with 
the wrinkles or warts show- 
ing distinctly ; the inner sur- 
face is of a dirty-gray color, 
longitudinally fissured, 
smooth or fibrous ; the fract- 
ure is very tough and fibrous, the freshly-broken 
surfaces appearing yellowish-white; a smooth-cut 
transverse section shows the bast-bundles in short 
tangentially elongated clusters, closely packed in 
such a manner as to give a somewhat irregularly 
serrate demarkation between the inner and middle 
barks ; the illustration shows a section seen by re- 
flected light, when the middle bark appears yellowish- 
white and the inner bark brownish ; the odor is very 
faint, sometimes described as narcotic or opium-like, 
and the taste is slightly bitter. — c. Eesin, piscidin 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



355 



and a bitter glucoside. — u. Soporific, narcotic, ano- 
dyne and sudorific. Dose : 1 to 3 grams. 

Alstonia Constrieta. 

N. Australian Fever Bark. — o. The bark of Al- 
stonia constrieta; Apocynacece. — h\ Australia. — ». In 
quills or troughs of various lengths, usually about 
15 to 20 cm. long, the bark itself being up to 6 mm. 
thick ; the outer surface usually is covered with a 
rough, fissured, spongy and friable corky layer, which 
is grayish-brown with 
ash-gray patches or 
occasionally almost 
the entire surface is 
whitish-gray ; some- 
times the corky layer 
is covered with li- 
chens and in a small 
proportion of the 
pieces it is altogether 
wanting ; the inner 
surface is superficially 
dark-brown, often 
splintery or coarsely 
fibrous and torn, showing light orange-brown in the 
interior parts of the bark ; the fracture is fibrous and 
splintery ; a smooth-cut transverse section of a piece 
previously soaked in water is, as in the illustration, 
with rather dark-brown mottled cork, bright-yellow 
middle bark and the inner bark with numerous dark- 
colored short tangentially stretched clusters arranged 
in longer tangential rows ; odor faint and taste in- 
tensely bitter. — c. Bitter taste is probably due to an 
alkaloid, alstonine. — u. Used for similar purposes as 
Cinchona, as a bitter tonic and anti-periodic. Dose : 
5 to 10 grams, best in fluid extract. 

A Similar Drug is IMta Bark, the bark of Alstonia 
scholaris; Apocynacece. This drug is obtained in the 




356 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Philippine Islands. In 




thick troughs 
quills 



or partial 
of various 
lengths from 5 to 
20 cm. long; the 
corky layer is 
rough, fissured, 
leather-brown, fre- 
quently marked 
with black spots; 
the inner surface 
is brownish - gray 
and striated 
lengthwise ; the 
fracture is short 
and hard, yellow- 
ish- brown or 
leather-colored, 
the inner bark 
being obscurely 
tangential] y stri- 
ated on section; no 
odor, bitter taste« 
— c. A peculiar 
bitter principle 
ditain, an alkaloid 
ditamine, etc. — u. 
Used for similar 
purposes as Alsto- 
nia constricta, but 
probably less 
active. 



GROU P XLS I i 



The barks of this group are characterized by a more 
or less distinctly checkered or quadratically marked 
striation. This marking is due to an arrangement of 
bast cells similar to that which gives the barks of the 
previous group the tangential marking, but in addi- 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY, 357 

tion to this, the medullary rays and bast portions of 

the fibrovascular bundles which give barks of Group 

XLI the radial striation are also well marked, and 

these two features together result in a distinctly 

quadratically checkered striation. 

Thin, tough quills, glossy greenish or yel- 
lowish-brown outer surface ; bitter astrin- 
gent taste Saiix. 

Flat, pale brownish-white pieces with 
corky layer removed ; mucilaginous taste. mums. 

Large, flat pieces or troughs, reddish- 
brown externally; fibrous fracture; acrid 
taste Quillaja. 

Brittle pieces or small quills, externally 
yellowish-gray, inner surface somewhat 
darker; often with conchoidal depres- 
sions externally Granatnm. 

Quills or troughs, cork warty, ash-gray, or 
wanting; fracture splintery, coarsely 
fibrous Fraxiiiiis. 

Large troughs or flat pieces, smooth, dark- 
brown and mottled on outer surface; bork 
generally absent. (Page 353) Jugians. 

Salix. 

N. Willow Bark. — o. The bark of Salix alba and 

other varieties of 



\\,t: &BB Salix; Salicacece.— 

H.Europe and Isorth 
America. — 1>. Thin, 
tough, flexible quills, 
- or irregular pieces 
" m || varying in thickness 
from J to 2 mm., the 
bark from the trunk 




*mw X n t n co ° sider f ly 

JUi :. ESS thicker ; outer surf ace 

glossy greenish-gray to grayish or yellowish-brown, 



358 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



with a greenish layer under the thin outer bark; the 

corky ]ayer sometimes slightly warty, in older barks 

occasionally silver-gray from lichenous patches ; the 

inner surface smooth and pale cinnamon-brown, or 

sometimes slightly reddish, peeling off in thin, 

finely fibrous liber sheets; fracture tough and 

fibrous; on transverse section the striation appears 

quadratically checkered; no odor; astringent and 

bitter taste. — c» Salicin, 1 to 3 per cent; tannin 10 to 

12 per cent. — u. Tonic, astringent, slightly febrifuge. 

Dose: 1 to 5 grams. 

Ulmns. 

N.Elm Bark, Slippery Elm Bark. — o. The inner 

bark of Ulmusfulva; 
Urticaced, — h. 
United States. — 1>. In 
flat, flexible pieces or 
troughs of various 
sizes up to J meter or 
more in length and 
up to 1 or 2 decimeters 
in width, but usually 
smaller; about 3 mm. 
thick ; the outer bark 
is removed so that both outer and inner surfaces are 
of the same color, pale brownish-white, the inner sur- 
face slightly ridged longitudinally; fracture tough and 
very fibrous, mealy; a smooth-cut transverse section 
shows delicate quadratic markings due to tangential 
liber and radiating medullary rays ; odor faint and 
taste insipidly mucilaginous. — c. Mucilage.— u. Dem- 
ulcent and emollient. Dose, ad libitum, of the mucil- 
age. Powdered slippery elm bark is said to be some- 
times adulterated with corn meal, which can be 
detected by aid of a microscope. 
Quillaja. 
BT. Soap Bark, Quillaja. — o. The inner bark of 
Quillaja Saponaria; Rosacece. — h. Chili and Peru. — 




NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 359 

B. In large, flat pieces or shallow troughs, the bark 
itself about 4 to 8 mm. thick; the outer surface, de- 
prived of its bork, is brownish- white, with occasional 
patches of reddish- 
brown corky layer, 
the inner surface is 

pale brownish-white, ||J: - ; iJt^Sjff 

and the interior of 
the bark on fresh 
fracture is nearly^ 
white. The structure 
is woody and fibrous, 
fracture coarsely 
splintery, with pale 
brownish bast fibers with adherent white tissue and 
glistening from oxalate of calcium crystals; a smooth- 
cut transverse section is delicately quadratically 
striated or checkered; odor none, taste persistently 
acrid. — c« About 9 per cent saponin. — ij c The powder 
is sternutatory. Internally administered it is stimu- 
lant and diuretic. Dose : 1 to 2 grams in infusion. 

Fraxinng . 

X, White Ash Bark. — o. The bark of Fraxinus 
Americana; Fraxinece. — h. North America. — ed. 
Quills or troughs, the bark itself up to 5 mm. thick ; 
outer bark or corky layer ash-gray and warty, but 
often removed; inner surface smooth and yellowish- 
white; fracture coarsely fibrous and splintery, a 
smooth-cut section showing quadratically checkered 
appearance ; odor aromatic, weak ; taste acrid bitter. 
— €. Glucoside, bitter principle, etc. ; analysis incom- 
plete. — tu. Diuretic, uterine tonic and emmenagogue. 
Dose : 0.5 to 1 gram. 

Jugians. — Stem bark is usually tangentially striated 
with the radiating markings obscure, but the bark of 
the root, which in its coarse appearance closely re- 
sembles that of the stem, except that it is often much 



360 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

thicker, is usually quadratically checkered, with both 
tangential and radial striae very plain, especially if a 
thin section is examined while being cleared in solu- 
tion of potassa under the microscope, less so when 
totally cleared. 

Oranatnm. — While most pieces of this bark show no 
striation, a few may be met with in which quadratic 
markings are delicately but distinctly shown. The 
bark may, therefore, sometimes be looked for in this 
group. For full description, however, see the next 
group. 

GROUP XLIV. 
While a finished and cleared section of a bark of 
this group will show the same general structure that 
is observed in barks in general, yet in a smooth-cut 
section examined by reflected light the appearance is 
rather uniform, both in color and texture, and even 
in the few barks in which there are clusters of pecu- 
liar cells these are not arranged in any manner to 
suggest striation. 
Heavy, long, flattish pieces or 
troughs, the bark up to 15 mm. 

thick, reddish-brown Coto. 

Similar to above, rust-brown, 
outer surface fissured and 

shrunken Paracoto. 

Narrow, brittle fragments, 
shaved from twigs, about 1 
mm. thick, whitish wood ad- 
hering to inner surface. Prinos. 

Irregular pieces or troughs, outer 
surface grayish-brown with 
transverse warts, or reddish- 
brown patches where grayish- 
brown cork is detached Hamamelidis Cortex. 

Troughs or quills, up to 30 cm. 
long, younger bark mottled, 
older with rough cork .Cascara. 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 361 

Thin bark in rolled quills, exter- 
nally grayish-brown to black- 
ish-brown with small trans- 
verse whitish cork-warts, in- 
ner surface brownish-yellow . . Franguia. 
Thin quills or troughs, glossy 
purplish-brown with scattered 

WartS and blackish dots Viburnum Prunif . 

Quills or troughs, brownish-gray 
with whitish patches, marked 
with minute black dots and 

scattered small spines Xanthoxyinm. k. 

Quills or flattish pieces, brown- 
ish-gray with many large con- 
ical projections Xanthoxylum. S. 

Irregular pieces or troughs, ex- 
ternally brown and rough from 
warts; inner surface pale 

brownish-yellow Chionanthus. 

Brittle pieces or small quills, ex- 
ternally yellowish-gray, inner 
surface somewhat darker; 
often with conchoidal depres- 
sions externally Granatum. 

Irregular pieces, outer surface 
marbled or grained, fragile, 
soft, rust-brown; character- 
istic taste and odor Sassafras. 

Irregular pieces, outer surface 
pale yellowish-brown with 
lighter spots, inner surface 
smooth and brownish-yellow ; 
fracture abrupt, almost waxy.pteiea. 

Cot©. 
Hi. Coto Bark. — o. The bark of some unknown 
South American tree. — h. Bolivia. — ». In flattish 
pieces or troughs 0.2 to 0.3 meters long, the bark it- 
self being from 5 to 15 mm. thick ; or in irregular 



362 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



pieces; outer surface reddish-brown, inner surface 
somewhat darker colored ; fracture granular in outer 
layer, coarsely fibrous in bast portion of bark; a 
transverse section shows numerous golden-yellow 
clusters of sclerenchyma cells, but no striation ; the 
odor is aromatic, reminding of cardamom, camphor, 
cajeput-oil with a faint trace of cinnamon ; taste pun- 
gent aromatic and slightly bitter. — c. A bitter acrid 

p rinciple 
called co- 
toin, several 
resins, vola- 
tile oil, etc. 
— u. Highly 
recommend- 
ed as a rem- 
edy for acute 
and chronic 
diarrhoeas, 
dysentery, 
etc. Dose : 
0.06 t o 1 
gram. 

A spurious 
coto bark, 
called Para- 
cot© Bark, 

is also used. 
Its origin is 
also un- 
known, but 
it is proba- 
bly the bark 
of a variety 
COTO - of Nectan- 

dra. — h. Bolivia. — s>. In flat pieces of uniform 
rust-brown color on all surfaces, up to 15 or rarely 20 
mm. thick, the bast being about two-thirds of the 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 363 

entire thickness; the outer surface is transversely 
fissured and shrunken in length so that the bast pro- 
jects somewhat in the manner shown in Saigon cin- 
namon ; the bast is coarsely fibrous, striate on the 
inner surface ; a smooth transverse section shows a 
continuous tangential line of light-yellow scleren- 
chyma cells under the cork, and numerous irregu- 
larly scattered clusters of similar cells throughout the 
bast portion, giving the latter a speckled or dotted 
appearance, but without any distinct arrangement in 
rows ; a smooth longitudinal cut shows these clusters 
as short longitudinal lines; the odor is nutmeg-like. 
— r. In action this bark is similar to, but weaker than 
the genuine coto bark, although it is maintained by 
some writers that most, if not all, of the coto bark 
now in the trade is in reality paracoto bark. 
Prinos. 
K. Black Alder Bark. — o. The bark of Prinos ver~ 
ticillatus; Aquifoliacecz. — h. United States and 
Canada. — ». In thin, narrow^ brittle fragments, about 
1 mm. thick, seldom more than 10 or 12 mm. wide 




and about 5 to 6 cm. long ; the pieces of bark show 7 
that they w T ere shaved from the twigs with knives, the 
edges being thin and the middle of the pieces thick- 
est, with often shreds of whitish wood adhering ; the 
outer surface is brownish-gray or ash-gray, with 
lighter-colored irregular patches and darker-colored 



364 NOTE)S ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

dots and lines and often with patches of light-gray 
lichens ; the inner surface is pale-green, except where 
the whitish shreds of wood are attached; fracture 
abrupt, showing no striation in bast, but usually 
showing a fissure between the outer and inner bark, 
the corky layer separating readily even in the whole 
bark, with a tendency to curl the edges outward ; a 
section when partly cleared, shows distinct radial 
lines or medullary rays, but when completely cleared 
these are indistinct; in a section cleared with liquor 
potassse the corky layer is brownish with a narrow 
layer of yellow cells underneath, then some paren- 
chyma of the middle bark, often torn, then the inner 
bark radially striate, with large clusters of yellow 
bast-cells in its outer portion ; nearly inodorous, taste 
bitter and astringent. — c. An unnamed amorphous 
bitter principle, resin, tannin, etc. — u. Astringent, 
bitter tonic. Dose : 2 to 5 grams, best in fluid extract. 
Hamamelidis Cortex. 
X. Hamamelis Bark, Witchhazel Bark. — o. The 
bark of young branches of Hamamelis Virginiana; 
Hamamelidece \ — h. North America. — j>. In irregu- 
larly quilled and bent pieces, or troughs, about 8 to 




10 mm. wide and 1 to 1.5 mm. thick; outer surface 
smooth grayish-brown, with transverse warts, or red- 
dish-brown with detached patches of darker-colored 
grayish-brown cork, dotted with scattered blackish 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



365 



mm 



mm 



il i 



warts ; or occasionally the cork is rub- 
bed off from the warts, when they ap- 
pear lighter than the general surface ; 
inner surface paler brown, slightly 
striate and with small elevated dots ; 
the fracture abrupt or faintly tough 
in the bast of older pieces of bark ; a 
section examined under the micro- 
scope shows faint tangential striation 
which is not seen with the naked eye ; 
the odor is faint but peculiar, and 




CASCARA ROOT BARK. 

taste astringent. — c. About 8 p. c. 
tannin. — u. Tonic astringent. Has 
been recommended as a remedy to 
prevent miscarriage, and locally as 
an application to wounds, bruises, 
hemorrhoids, etc. Dose : 2 to 4 grams. 
Rhamnns Piirsliiana. 
N. Cascara, Cascara Sagrada, Chit- 
tem Bark. — o. The bark of Rhamnus 
Purshiana; Rhatnnacecz. — H. West- 



366 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



ern parts of United States, especially the region 
of the "Rocky Mountains. — ». Thin, brittle troughs 
or quills, from 2 to 20 cm. long, the bark itself about 
2 mm. thick ; in quite young bark the outer surface is 
mottled as shown in one of the drawings, the dark 
parts being nearly black, the light parts whitish or 
ash-colored, with intermediate shades of brown; in 
older barks the contrast is not so marked, the entire 
surface appearing brownish-gray, although the pecu- 
liar figuring is often present ; the inner surface is yel- 
lowish-brown to orange-brown when fresh, but dark- 
ening to a uniform brown with age. The root bark is 
thicker, darker, irregularly twisted or bent, and with 
a thick rough external bark, as shown in the smaller 
drawing. All thicker pieces are somewhat fibrous in 
fracture in the bast portion. Odorless, taste bitter, 
and the bark stains the saliva yellow upon being 
chewed. — c. Three different resins, tannin, etc. No 
isolated active principle. — u. Valuable tonic laxative 
in chronic constipation. Dose : 5 to 10 grams, best in 
fluid extract or other fluid form. 

Frangnla. 

N. Buckthorn Bark. — o. The bark of Rhamnus 
Frangula; Rhamnacece. — h. Europe. — jd. Quills or 





' -.V; V 





troughs, about the thickness of a little finger, consist- 
ing of bark from J to 1 mm. thick ; outer surface dull 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGOSY, 



367 



grayish or blackish-brown, with many small whitish, 
sometimes transversely elongated cork -warts; the 
external layer or epidermis can be easily detached 
and shows a purplish color on its inner surface; 
the inner surface of the bark is smooth, orange or 
reddish-brown, or dark-brown in older bark; frac- 
ture brittle, showing short fibers in the inner or bast- 
portion; odor weak, but peculiar, and the taste 
sweetish-bitter. — c. Frangulin, which is a yellow, 
odorless and tasteless glucoside; emodin, etc.; on 
chewing the bark it colors the saliva yellow. — u. 
Mild purgative ; when fresh, it is very violent in its 
action and therefore it must be kept for at least a 
year before it is used. Dose : 2 to 10 grams, best as 
fluid extract. 

Viburnum Frunif oliimi. 



M". Black Haw. — ©. The bark of Viburnum pruni- 
folium; Caprifoliacecz. — h. United States. — ». Thin 
fragments or quills, externally glossy purplish-brown, 




with scattered warts and minute black dots ; bark 
from older branches is grayi3h-brown ; the thin outer 
bark separates easily from the greenish middle bark; 
the inner surface is smooth and of grayish-white 
color; fracture abrupt; odor slight or none, and taste 
bitter and somewhat astringent. — c. Valerianic acid, 
bitter principle viburnin, resin, tannin, etc. — v. 



368 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Used to prevent abortion or miscarriage ; it is also 
used in uterine derangements, as dysmenorrhcea, etc. 
Dose : 5 to 10 grams, best as fluid extract. 
Xanthoxylum . 

N. Prickly Ash Bark. — o. The barks of Xanthoxy- 
lurn Americanum and X, Clava-Hercujiis ; Rutacecz. 




-— H. United States; X. Amer., in Northern and Cen- 
tral States, and X. Cl.-H. y in Southern States. — ». 
Northern variety: Quills or troughs or irregular pieces, 
the bark itself about 1 mm. thick; the outer surface is 
brownish-gray with whitish patches and minute black 
dots, and some few glossy brown two-edged spines 
up to 5 mm. long; the inner surface smooth and 
whitish; fracture abrupt, the broken surface appar- 
ently of uniform texture, but greenish in the outer 
and yellowish in the inner layers ; no odor ; taste bit- 
terish and very pungent. — ». Southern variety: Re- 
sembles the former in general appearance and taste, 
but is up to 2 mm. thick and on the outer surface 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 369 

there are many large conical corky projections, some- 



Jragrruud entcuytcL Z/$~ yC 




times up to 2 cm. high, and some stout spines rising 
from a corky base. Northern Prickly Ash Bark has 
already been mentioned in Group XLI, because its 
section shows distinct radial striation, 
but it is described here with the fre- 
quently used Southern bark. The 
figures illustrate the crude appearance 
of Southern Prickly Ash Bark, and 
transverse section of the same. — c. 
An acrid green oil, acrid soft resin, 
bitter principle, tannin, etc. — u. 
Stimulant, sialagogue, alterative and 
emmenagogue. Dose : 0.5 to 2 grams. 
The bark of Aralia spinosa may be 
mistaken for that of Xanthoxylum 
(especially for the Northern variety), 
but it is nearly smooth externally, 
with transverse rows of slender 
prickles. 

C tiioiianthus. 

N. Fringe Tree Bark. — o. The 
bark of the root of Chionanthus Vir- 
ginica; Olcacecz. — h. United States. 
— ». Irregular, either tortuous or 
nearly straight troughs and pieces averaging from 2.5 
to 10 cm. in length and 1 to 2.5 cm. in width, the bark 




370 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



itself being 2 to 5 mm. thick; the external sur- 
face is of a brown color, rough, marked by warts, trans- 
verse ridges and irregular scars; the inner surface is 
pale brownish-yellow and finely striate; fracture 
brittle, the broken surface nearly white, the trans- 
verse section showing scattered brownish spots of 
bast-cell bundles, but no distinct striation; the odor 
is faint, reminding of rancid cacao butter ; the taste is 
bitter. — c. No accurate analysis has been made, but 
saponin has been found. — u. Said to be alterative, 
aperient and diuretic. Dose : 2 to 8 grams, best as 
fluid extract. 



Granatum. 

N. Pomegranate, Pomegranate 
Bark. — o. The bark of the stem and 
root of Punica Granatum; Grana- 
tacece' — h. Grows wild in Northern 
Africa and Southern Asia and Europe; 
cultivated in all sub-tropical coun- 
tries. — ». The root bark occurs in 
troughs, more rarely in quills, up to 
10 cm, long, the bark itself being 
about 1 mm. thick ; externally it is 
grayish-yellow or brownish-gray , fine- 
ly wrinkled (when young) or fissured 
and warty or scaly (when from older 
roots), but free from lichenous 
growths; the corky layer is com- 
paratively thick and frequently 
marked with conchoidal depressions 
due to sphacelation from secondary 
suber, or if these sphacelated por- 
tions have not yet become detached 
the external surface appears scaly; 
the inner surface is smooth, finely 
striate, grayish-yellow ; fracture 
abrupt, brownish-yellow, generally of uniform finely 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 371 

granular texture, more rarely showing indistinct check- 
ered or even radial markings; no odor, taste bitter. 
The bark of the stem is similar to that of the root, 
except that it occurs more frequently in quills, and 
has a less abundant cork-formation ; it is moreover 
often marked, and often nearly covered on its exter- 
nal surface with lichenous patches. — c. Its action is 
supposed to be due mainly to an oily liquid alkaloid, 
pelletierine ; it contains also three other allied alka- 
loids, about 20 per cent of punico-tannic acid, etc. — 
U. Anthelmintic and taenicide. Dose: 5 to 15 grains 
in decoction. 

Sassafras has already been aescribed, but the bast 
portion of many of the pieces, especially when the 
dry bark is broken, appear on transverse section to be 
of a uniform texture, so that the bark might also be 
looked for here. For description see Group XLI. 

Ptelea or Wafer Ash has already been described in 
Group XLI; many pieces, however, break or cut with 
a peculiar almost waxy fracture and show uniform 
texture on the broken surfaces, so that the drug may 
sometimes be looked for here. 

GROUP XLV. 

This group comprises only one bark, that of White 
Oak, which rarely or never comes into the drug-trade 
except coarsely ground or rasped. 
An irregularly coarse, grayish-brown 

powder mixed with many tough 

coarse fibers Qnereiis Alba. 

Querous Alba. 

M. White Oak Bark. — o. The bark of Quercus alba; 
Cupuliferce. — h. United States. — i>. The barks of 
various kinds of oaks are gathered and used in the 
. tanning industry. As brought into trade for this pur- 
pose they are massive pieces, often a meter or two in 



372 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

length and with the coarse bork attached. White 
oak bark when prepared for the drug trade, is freed 
from the bork, and is then in coarse flat pieces, the 
bark itself about 5 mm. thick, pale brown, the inner 
surface with sharp projecting longitudinal ridges; 
fracture tough and coarsely fibrous; a smooth-cut 
section shows quadratically checkered markings. As 
found in the drug trade, however, this bark is always 
coarsely ground, torn or rasped, so that it appears as 
an irregular powder, mixed with a mass of tough, 
coarse fibers, or vice versa, as coarse fibers with some 
coarse powder intermixed ; the odor is faintly tan- 
like, taste strongly astringent. — c. From 5 to 15 per 
cent of a peculiar variety of tannic acid, quercitannic 
acid ; younger bark contains proportionally more of 
this principle than does the older bark. — u. Astrin- 
gent; the infusion is mainly employed externally as 
an injection in leucorrhcea, etc. ; as a gargle in pha- 
ryngitis, and as a mouth-wash for spongy and bleed- 
ing gums. 

Black Oak Bark (from Quercus tinctoria) colors the 
saliva yellow, which the official bark does not. This 
bark should not be employed, as its decoction or in- 
fusion, when used for instance as an injection in 
leucorrhcea, would stain the clothing. 

GROUP XLVI. 

LEAF BUDS. 

We have already learned that some authors include 
under the group of leaf buds such structures as bulbs, 
corms and even tubers ; these structures are better 
separated from leaf buds, and have already been de- 
scribed under their appropriate groups, XXX to 
XXXIII, inclusive. We speak here only of true 
leaf buds, to which no part of the stem is attached, or 
of which at least the stem does not form a part. In 
Latin these structures are called "Gemmae." 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 373 

Long, tapering, scaly leaf buds, 
brown and covered externally 

with Sticky resin Popnli Gemmae. 

Popiili Gemmae. 

Poplar Buds. — o. The buds of Populus nigra; 
Salicacecz. — h. Europe. — i>. The draw- 
ing shows the appearance and size of these 
buds better than words could do ; they are 
dark-brown, wrinkled, and covered with a 
sticky resinous exudation ; odor balsamic 
and terebinthinate, taste bitterish, bal- 
samic and somewhat pungent. — c. Resin, 
volatile oil, with probably small quantities 
of the balsamic acids. — u. Poplar buds 
are used in combination with other substances for 
making some of the popular cough preparations, in 
which they probably act similar to tolu, etc. ; used 
also in preparing ointments, to which the buds im- 
part some ingredient which prevents the fats from be- 
coming rancid. 

The buds of the North American plant, Populus 
balsamifera, are used in a similar manner as those 
from the black poplar. 

leaves. 

The student is supposed to have acquired a knowl- 
edge of the nature of leaves and of their forms and 
structure from his reading some work on botany, 
or from the lectures on that subject. There are some 
characteristics, however, which are of especial im- 
portance to pharmacognocists and which must be 
mentioned here. Leaves are covered by an epider- 
mis, which usually has more stomata on the under 
side than on the upper side ; it is also often thicker, 
as well as smoother, on the upper side than on the 
under; on section it is seen that cells are crowded 
closely against the upper epidermis, while they are 
separated by large intercellular spaces in the lower 



374 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

part of the leaf, these intercellular spaces communi- 
cating with the outer air by means of the breathing 
pores (stomata). As the "palisade" cells of the 
upper layer of the leaf also contain more clorophyll 
bodies, the upper surface shows a deeper green color, 
while the under side is often made to look still paler 
by the innumerable small hairs, which grow by prefer- 
ence on the under side of leaves. The illustration 
shows diagramatically a section of a part of a leaf, as 
well as a portion of epidermis. 




When ground or broken leaves are to be examined, 
the epidermis and its cells, the shapes and distribu- 
tion of the stomata, the presence or absence, as the 
case may be, of trichomes (outgrowths of the epider- 
mis, as glands, hairs, scales, etc.), and the appear- 
ance of the latter constitute the characteristics by 
which a determination is made, but when whole 
leaves are examined their shapes are described as in 
works of botany. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 375 

Leaves may be divided into coriaceous and herba- 
ceous leaves, and while this division is not always dis- 
tinct, nevertheless it will be found to be of practical 
convenience; in a few drugs, however, some lots will 
appear to be of one kind, and other lots resemble 
more the other kind, as is the case occasionally in 
coca, chestnut leaves, etc. 

Leaves are coriaceous or leathery when the epider- 
mis is thickened and hardened and the skeleton or 
frame-work of fibro-vascular bundles is more or less 
lignified, so that the leaf retains its shape and size on 
drying. Herbaceous leaves, on the other hand, are 
those in which the epidermis and skeleton both are 
soft and succulent, so that the leaf shrinks in every 
direction on drying, in length, width and thickness, 
so that it becomes much crumpled, often much broken 
and torn, and sometimes considerably reduced in 
size ; such leaves may be softened by steaming, when 
they are to be examined, as they can then be flattened 
out easily and their forms shown. 

Some leaves are pellucid-punctate from numerous 
glands (really intercellular spaces in their interior) 
filled with volatile oil, which appear as translucent 
dots on looking through the leaf at some bright light, 
or at the sun. 

Most leaves become brownish on drying, so that the 
color is rarely a pure green in the drugs ; moreover 
the extractive matters in the parenchyma of the 
leaves are usually dark-brown, so that even in green- 
ish leaves this brown coloring material preponderates 
over the green chlorophyll, and extracts or tinctures 
from leaves are usually brown. 

Leaves may be grouped as follows : 

f Coriaceous < X 

Compound . . .48. 
Leaves < p . 

Herbaceous i „ _ 

[Compound . . 50. 



376 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

It must be remembered, however, that flowering 
tops consist mainly of leaves, and some drugs which 
are supposed to consist of leaves alone are often ter- 
minal twigs with leaves and occasionally flowers or 
even immature fruits ; especially is this the case with 
the narcotic herbs, as belladonna, aconite leaves, etc., 
and so commonly and regularly was it the case with 
hyoscyamus that now the Pharmacopoeia defines this 
drug to be "the leaves and flowering tops." Some 
leaves are sometimes found in the trade as leaves 
alone, but more frequently as leafy twigs, and a few 
of these have been already described as "leafy 
branches" in Group XXXIV; mention of these is, 
however, also made under the appropriate groups of 
leaves. 

GROUP XLYII. 

SIMPLE CORIACEOUS LEAVES. 

Scythe-shaped, 15 to 30 cm. long, mar- 
gin entire ; grayish-green Eucalyptus 

Koundish-obovate, about 15 mm. long, 
margin crenate or serrate ; yellowish- 
green; pellucid-punctate, with a 
gland at each serration Bnchu (short) . 

Slender linear-lanceolate leaves, about 
3 to 4 cm. long, margin serrate; 
otherwise like the preceding Bucim (long). 

Obovate or oblong spatulate, 15 to 20 
mm. long, margin entire; lower sur- 
face reticulate ; brownish-green .... uva Ursi. 

Variable in size and shape, ovate, 
obovate-oblong to lanceolate, 2 to 7 
cm. long, margin entire; green to 
brownish; with a curved line on 
each side of the midrib . Coca. 

Obovate to oblong, 10 to 25 mm. long, 
margin with 2 to 6 dentations on 
each side ; light-green Damiana, 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 377 

Ovate-oblong, to 5 cm. long, with long 
petiole, margin finely crenulate; 
whitish to grayish-green, downy. . . .salvia, 

Eolled into small balls or cylinders ; 
grayish-green, bluish-green to black- 
ish Thea. 

Oblong or oblong-lanceolate, acute at 
both ends, 5 to 10 cm. long, margin en- 
tire, somewhat wavy ; pellucid-punc- 
tate; brownish or brownish-green.. .Lauras. 

Broadly oval, about 5 cm. long, mar- 
gin entire; rough on both sides, 
glossy on upper and hairy on under 
surface ; brownish-green Boidus. 

Linear, about 25 mm. long, margin 
revolute; dark-green above, whitish 
woolly, glandular, with promineut 
midrib underneath Rosmarinus. 

Lanceolate, short-petiolate, 7 to 10 
cm. long, to 25 mm. broad, margin 
entire and somewhat wavy; thin, 
smooth, and often with scars from 

insects. Dnboisia. 

Ovate, petiolate, about 5 cm. long, mar- 
ginentire; thick, glaucous, pale-green, Manzanita. 

Koundish-oval or obovate, about 4 cm. 
long, 2 or more cm. broad, margin 
slightly serrate with appressed spic- 
ular teeth; smooth, glossy, green or 
brownish-green Gauitheria. 

Oblanceolate, about 5 cm. long, mar- 
gin serrate at apex and nearly en- 
tire near base ; smooth, dark- green. cmmaphiia. 

Oblong-lanceolate, 5 to 10 cm. long, 
margin irregularly dentate ; green- 
ish or brown; upper surface smooth 
and covered with brownish resin, 
lower surface white-hairy Eriodyction. 



378 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Eucalyptus. 

Br. Eucalyptus. — ©. The leaves of Eucalyptus glob- 




ulus; Myrtace<%. Only the leaves from the older 
parts of the tree should be used, as those from the 
younger branches are comparatively worthless. — 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 379 

H. Indigenous to Australia, but now cultivated in all 
subtropical countries. — ». This drug has already 
been mentioned under Group XXXIV, leafy twigs, 
as it comes into trade in that shape in the bales ; but 
as it is usually garbled before reaching the retail 
dealer, the latter obtains it as leaves alone, and 
therefore its description has been postponed to this 
place. The leaves are petiolate, lanceolate scythe- 
shaped, from 15 to 30 cm. long, more or less rounded 
at the base, tapering at apex, margin entire, coriace- 
ous, pellucid-punctate or glandular, grayish-green; a 
leaf from the older parts of the tree is represented in 
half natural size in the illustration; odor strongly 
camphoraceous and the taste pungently aromatic, 
bitter and astringent, leaving a cooling taste in the 
mouth. A leaf from the younger branches is repre- 
sented in figure (£), also half natural size ; such leaves 
are ovate, faintly cordate at base, rounded or only 
slightly pointed at apex, bluish-green, thinner and 
less glandular than the scythe-shaped leaves, but 
otherwise similar except that they are far less active 
medicinally, for which reason they should not be 
used. In the bales twigs and unopened buds, of 
which latter one is figured (c), are generally present, 
though absent in the garbled drug as it reaches the 
retail pharmacist. — c. About 6 per cent volatile oil, 
some tannin, resin, etc. — u. Stimulant tonic, stom- 
achic, blennorrhetic, diaphoretic and diuretic; by 
some esteemed to be febrifuge. Dose: 1 to 5 grams, 
best in fluid extract. The volatile oil is used as an 
antiseptic. 

Bacilli. 

K. Buchu. — o. The leaves of Barosma betulina 
and B. crenulata; Rutace<z. — h. Southern Africa. — 
i>. There are two trade varieties of this drug, short 
and long, of which the former is the best and the 
kind recognized in the Pharmacopoeia, although the 
long is the higher-priced variety. Short buchu is 



380 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



composed of leaves about 15 mm. long, roundish- 
obovate with somewhat wedge-shaped base, or vary- 




ing between oval and obovate, obtuse at apex, mar- 
gin crenate or serrate, leaves rather thick, dull 
yellowish-green, pellucid-punctate, with a gland at 
each indentation ; odor and taste strongly mintlike, 
aromatic, pungent and bitterish. — c. One to 1 J per 
cent volatile oil, etc.; the oil is the active constituent. 
— u. Stimulant diuretic. Dose : 1 to 2 grams, best in 
fluid extract. 

Long Buclui is obtained from B. serratifolia; the 
leaves are 3 to 4 cm. long, thin, slender, lanceolate, 
green, less leathery but otherwise similar to short 
buchu. Long buchu is often mixed with the leaves 
of Empleururn serruiatum, which are narrower and 
without oil-glands at the extreme apex. 

The illustrations are as follows: A, leaf of Barosma 
crenulata, natural size, and a, the same enlarged ; B, 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY, 



381 




leaf of B. betulina, natural size, and b, the same en- 
larged; (7, leaf of B. serratifolia, natural size; £>, 
leaf of Empleurum serrulatum, natural size, and d, 
apex of same, enlarged; E, leaf of Barosma crenata, 
which sometimes constitutes part of the drug. 
Uva Ursi. 
jr. Uva Ursi, Bearberry Leaves. — ©. The leaves of 
Arctostaphylos Uva Ursi; Ericacece. — h. Northern 
Europe and America. — ». Short-petioled, obovate or 
oblong-spatulate, 15 to 20 mm. long and 5 to 8 mm. 
broad,, apex obtuse, margin entire and 
slightly revolute, upper surface with veins 
depressed, lower surface distinctly reticu- 
late, brownish-green to brown; odor faint 
and taste strongly astringent and some- 
what bitter. — c. About 6 per cent tannin, 
arbutin, etc. — u. Astringent, diuretic and 
nephritic; especially 
esteemed in kidney and bladder 
troubles. Dose: 2 to 5 grams, in 
infusion or fluid extract. 

Coca, 

N. Coca Leaves, Cucha Leaves. 
— O. The leaves of Erythroxylon 
Coca; ErythroxylecB. — H. Peru 
and Bolivia; cultivated.— ». From 
2.5 to 7.5 cm. long, short-petioled, 
closely net-veined on both sides, 
with a thick midrib on both sides 
of which there is a more or less 
distinctly marked curved line (not 
connected with the venation) run- 
ning from the base to the apex, 
margin entire, greenish to green- 
ish-brown or even brown in color, 
with faint tea-like odor and bitterish aromatic taste. 
The leaves of the Bolivian variety are smaller than the 




382 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Peruvian, but are said to be richer in cocaine. — c. 
Cocaine, etc. — u. Stimulant, resembling coffee in 
action. Said to be a general excitant. Dose : 1 to 
5 grams, chewed, or in infusion or fluid extract. 
Cocaine is a local anaesthetic also ; used as a stim- 
ulant and intoxicant by so-called "cocaine-fiends," 
to whom the habitual use of this drug proves as de- 
structive as the opium or hashish habits do to their 
respective votaries. 

Damiana. 

jr. Damiana. — o. The leaves of Turnera aphro- 




disiaca, T. microphilla, and perhaps other varieties 
of Turnera; Turneracece. — h. Mexico and lower 
California. — ». The form and size of the leaves are 
well shown in the drawings. Variable, short-peti- 
oled, obovate or oblong, apex somewhat obtuse, base 
wedge-shaped and margin with three to six teeth on 
each side, veins prominent beneath, light-green, 
nearly smooth, often much broken and crumbled; 
odor agreeably aromatic and taste slightly aromatic. 
Mexican Damiana consists of small smooth leaves 
(#, b and c, in the illustrations), and California 
Damiana consists of larger and broader leaves with 
redundant margin (fig. d). — c. Volatile oil and resin. 
— U. Generally reported to be a valuable aphrodisiac. 
Stimulant, tonic and diuretic. Dose : 5 to 10 grams in 
fluid extract. 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY, 



383 



False Damiana consists of the leaves of Aplopap- 
pus (or Haplopappus) discoideus (Composite), which 
are frequently sold as Damiana. Figure e, shows ap- 
pearance and size. About 2 to 3 cm. long, oblance- 
olate, with from one to three dentations on each side, 
rough, and minutely dotted; frequently mixed with 
the flower-heads (or with parts of same, involucre, 
florets and hairy pappus) of the same plant. The 
odor and taste of False Damiana differs from that of 
the genuine drug, and resemble more those of Grin- 
delia. These leaves contain resin, but lack the aroma 
of true Damiana, and when present must be consid- 
ered as adulteration 

Salvia. 

M. Sage. — o. The leaves of Salvia officinalis ; La- 
biates. — h:. Culti- 
vated. — 1>. With 
long petiole, ovate- 
oblong, about 5 cm. 
long, base rounded, 
apex obtuse or sub- 
acute, margin deli- 
cately crenulate, 
thick, somewhat 
wrinkled, grayish- 
green, soft-hairy and 
gl an dulous on under 
side; odor aromatic, 
taste aromatic, bitter, 
somewhat astringent. 
Wild, gray, thick sage 
is considered the best ("Italian Sage"). — c. Volatile 
oil, some resin, tannin, etc. — u. Stimulant, astrin- 
gent and vulnerary. Dose : 2 to 5 grams in infusion. 
The infusion is a popular gargle for sore throat, etc. 
Thea. 
X. Tea. — o. The leaves of Thea Chinensis {Sinen- 
sis); Ternstroemiacecz. According to Hayne there 




384 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



are three distinct varieties of this plant : Thea Bokea, 
T. viridis and T. stricta, distinguished by shape of 
- leaves and fruits. — ». In the trade these leaves are 
found rolled into little balls or cylinders, varying in 
size, and in color from bluish-green to blackish. The 
leaves themselves, when unfolded after steaming or 
infusing, are found to be short-petiolate, oval to 
oblong-lanceolate, 25 to 75 mm. long, about half as 




broad, acute at both ends, margin serrate, smooth or 
slightly hairy and glandular along the veins on the 
under side ; odor peculiar and taste astringent and 
bitterish. The drawing of a whole leaf shows size, 
shape and venation of a large leaf and the other 
drawings show a portion of the epidermis of the 
under side (a) and a section of the leaf (b) with the 
peculiar sclerenchyma cells in its interior. — c. Vola- 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



385 



tile oil, up to 3 or 4 per cent of theine (identical with 
caffeine), up to 20 per cent tannin, etc. — u. Stimu- 
lant, nervine and astringent. Mainly used in infusion 
as a drink, the habitual and excessive use of which 
may produce nervous and digestive derangements. 

Tea is commercially divided into a number of 
varieties, which may, however, be broadly grouped 
as black and green teas. These varieties are ob- 
tained from the same plant, the 
differences depending on size 
and age of leaves, time of gath- 
ering, mode of preparing, as 
well as on peculiarities of soil 
and climate. In the following 
lists the names of these vari- 
eties are given in the order of 
quality, beginning with the 
finest, made from the tender 
leaf-buds, down to the coarsest, 
from the hard and woody ex- 
panded leaves. 

Black Teas ; with leaves 
usually merely rolled into cyl- 
inders; var.: Flowery pekoe, 
orange pekoe, pekoe, pekoe 
souchong, souchong, congon, 
bohea. 

Green Teas; with leaves usu- 
ally rolled into balls or twisted 
cylinders, and generally colored 
green artificially; var.: Gun- 
powder, imperial, hyson, 
young hyson, hyson skin, caper. 
Green teas are considered 
better or more fragrant, but 
they contain more tannin and 
are therefore more astringent. 
Adulteration with other leaves 




i 



386 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



can be determined by infusing the leaves and then 
spreading out and comparing the suspected leaves with 
the known shape and structure of the genuine leaves. 
Laurus. 
US'. Laurel Leaves, Bay Leaves. — o. Leaves of 
Laurus nobilis; Lauracecz. — H.Europe. — i>.The figure 
shows size and venation ; short petiole, oblong or ob- 
long-lanceolate, acute at both ends, about 7 to 10 cm. 

long, margin entire and 
somewhat wavy, finely 
veined on under side, 
pellucid-punctate, green- 
ish-brown to brownish, 
odor agreeably aromatic 
and taste bitterish. — c. 
Volatile oil, some bitter 
substance, tannin, etc. — 
U. Employed as a flavor- 
ing in cooking. 
Boldus. 
I*. Boldo, Boldo 
Leaves. — o.The leaves 
of Peumus Boldus; Mo- 
nimiacecz. — h. Chili, cul- 
tivated. — d. Broadly 
boldus. oval, about 5 cm. long, 

margin entire, rough on both sides from raised glands, 
glossy on upper and hairy on under surfaces, 
brownish-green to reddish-brown; disagreeably fra- 
grant and pungently aromatic and bitter. — c. About 2 
per cent volatile oil, tV per cent of the alkaloid bol- 
dine, some aromatic resin, tannin, etc. — u. Stimulant 
nervine, excitant; also useful in inflammations of 
genito-urinary organs, in hepatic affections, etc. 
Dose: 0.1 to 0.5 gram, best in fluid extract. 

Rosmarinus. 
N. Rosemary Leaves. Rosemary. — o. The leaves 




NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



387 



of Rosmarinus officinalis ; Labiatce. — h. Cultivated 
— ». Linear, nearly- 
sessile, about 2 to 3 
cm. long, 1.5 to 3 
rum. broad, margin 
entire and slightly 
revolute, dark-green 
above, whitish wool- 
ly, glandular and 
with prominent mid- 
rib underneath; odor cam: 
phoraceous, taste strongly 
aromatic. — c. Volatile oil 
and bitter extractive. — u. 
Stimulant, diuretic, diapho- 
retic, carminative and em- 
menagogue. Dose : 1 gram 
or more in infusion. 

Duboisia. 

X. Duboisia Leaves. — o. 
The leaves of Duboisia my- 
oporoides; Solanacece. — h. 
Australia. — ». Short-petio- 
late, broadly lanceolate, 
about 7 to 10 cm. long, 20 to 
30 mm. broad, rather thin, 
smooth, apex acute, base 
long and tapering, margin 
entire and somewhat wavy, 
midrib coarse and promi- 
nent, odor slight, but disa- 
greeable if any, and taste 
bitter acrid. — c. Duboisine 
(similar to hyoscyamine or 
atropine), resin, etc. — u. 
duboisia. Rarely used except for the 

manufacture of duboisine. The action is similar to 







388 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

that of belladonna, like which it is used. Excito - 
motor, in large doses narcotic poison, anodyne ; dilates 
the pupil of the eye. Dose : 0.05 to 0.3 gram in fluid 
extract. 

Manzanita. 

N. Manzanita. — o. The leaves of Arctostaphylos 
glauca; Ericacece. — H. California. — 1>. Ovate-oblong, 
or elliptical, petiolate, about 5 cm. long, apex acute, 
base obtuse, margin entire, thick, hairy, pale-green; 
without odor, taste astringent and somewhat bitter. — 
C. Arbutin, about 10 per cent tannin, etc. — u. Used 
like uva ursi; astringent, diuretic, 
tonic. Dose: 2 to 8 grams in fluid 
extract. 

Oaultberia and China aphila are 

rarely met with in trade as leaves 
alone, and for this reason they have 
already been fully described under 
Group XXXIV, Leafy Twigs. As 
garbled lots, consisting of leaves 
alone may, however, be met with 
occasionally, they are also mentioned 
here. 

Eriodyction is officially and gen- 
erally described as "leaves" and manzanita. 
would therefore be looked for here, but as a matter o f 
fact this drug always consists of twigs with leaves 
attached, belonging therefore under Group XXXIV, 
where it has been described and figured. 

See also the next group. 

GROUP XLVI II. 

COMPOUND CORIACEOUS LEAVES. 

A compound leaf consists of a number of leaflets 
attached to a midrib ; the drugs mentioned under this 
group are easily recognized as compound leaves when 
they come into the trade in bales, but they are some- 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



3S9 



times carefully garbled and may then be mistaken for 
simple leaves ; this is especially true of India or Tin- 
nevelly Senna. Care must be taken not to mistake 
compound leaves for leafy branches. 
Whole leaf with 8 to 10 leaflets; leaflets 
various sizes, 2 to 4 cm. long, lanceo- 
late, uneven at base, entire, grayish- 
green Senna. 

Whole leaf with 5 to 11 leaflets ; leaflets 
about 10 to 15 cm. long, oval or ovate- 
oblong, emarginate, uneven at base, 
margin entire, pellucid-punctate, dull 

grayish-green Pilocarpus. 

Senna. 
H. Senna, Senna Leaves. — o. The leaflets of Cassia 

acuiifolia (Al- 
exandria Sen- 
na) and C. a?i- 
gustifolia (In- 
dia Senna); 
Leguminosce . — 
H. Africa ; the 
India Senna is 
cultivated in In- 
dia. — i>. There 
are two trade 
varieties, known 
as " Alexandria 
Senna'' and 
"India Senna," 
which must be 
separately de- 
scribed : Alex- 
andria Senna 
in bales some- 
times consists 
of the whole 
leaf, a midrib with four to five pairs of leaflets, mixed 




390 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

with a short and broad legume, and occasionally with 
other ot foreign leaves. Before using it should be 
carefully garbled and all foreign substances rejected ; 
when thus garbled Alexandria senna consists of 
broadly lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, almost sessile, 
subcoriaceous leaflets, about 15 to 25 mm. long and 
up to 10 mm. broad, apex tapering or pointed, base 
unequally oblique, margin entire, grayish-green and 
slightly pubescent; odor peculiar, taste nauseous 
bitter. India Senna generally occurs in trade well 
garbled, as leaflets alone, lanceolate, from 3 to 5 cm. 
long, 10 to 15 mm. broad, apex acute, base unequally 
oblique, margin entire, smooth, yellowish-green or 
dull green; odor peculiar, somewhat tea-like, and 
taste nauseous bitter and somewhat mucilaginous. 
C. Cathartic acid, chrysophan, etc. — u. Active, but 
not acrid cathartic. Dose : 2 to 10 grams in infusion 
or fluid extract. 

Alexandria senna (b) is usually considerably 
broken, mixed with pods, midribs, coarse stems, and 
with more or less of the leaves of Solenostemma 
Argel (/) or "Argel leaves ;" it also frequently con- 
tains leaves from Cassia obovata (c) and sometimes 
of Tephrosia {d) and Coriaria (e). 

India senna is much less broken than Alexandria 
senna. The senna cultivated at Tinnevelly, in East 
India, is the best kind of India senna ; it consists 
almost entirely of whole leaflets of good fresh color, 
and is free from stems, midribs and other admixtures. 

Alexandria senna leaves, entirely free from admixt- 
ures, are said to be about 50 per cent more active 
than India senna, and this is therefore the better 
variety. But for retail trade, the Tinnevelly senna 
is preferred on account of its clean and unbroken 
and therefore more sightly condition (#). 
Pilocarpus. 

NT. Pilocarpus, Jaborandi. — o. The leaflets of Pilo- 
carpus SelLoanus and P. Jaborandi (and also of P. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



391 



pinnatifolius); Rutacecz. 




H. Brazil. — d. In the 
trade the entire leaf, 
consisting of midrib with 
from five to eleven leaf- 
lets, is often found, often 
even with a piece of twig 
attached, as shown in one 
of the drawings. The 




JABORANDI. JABOKANDI. 

leaflets (a) are short-stalked, broadly oval or ovate- 
oblong, apex obtuse or slightly emarginate or 
notched, unequal at the base, margin entire and 
slightly revolute or rolled back on the under surface 
of the leaflet, smooth, pellucid-punctate, grayish or 
dull green color ; odor slightly aromatic when bruised 
and taste somewhat pungent and bitter. — c. The 



392 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

alkaloid pilocarpine, volatile oil, etc. — u. Sialagogue 




JABORANDI. 

and diaphoretic. Dose : 1 to 5 grams, in infusion or 
fluid extract. 

The illustrations show a whole leaf, as it occurs in 
the drug ; a leaflet (a) natural size, showing vena- 
tion ; a portion of epidermis of under surface, slightly 
enlarged, showing gland dots (b); the same more 
highly enlarged, by reflected light (d) and by trans- 
mitted light (e). 

GROUP XLIX. 
Simple Herbaceous Leaves. 

An herbaceous leaf has delicate and soit epidermis 
and the vessels and prosenchyma cells of the skele- 
ton are but slightly or not at all lignified, so that on 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY, 393 

drying it shrinks in every direction, becoming thin- 
ner and smaller than the growing leaf before gather- 
ing. In the drugs of this group many leaves are 
much shrunken and crumpled, so that they must be 
softened by steaming or infusing before they can be 
flattened out for examination, and most of them are 
so much broken that perfectly shaped leaves are not 
always easily obtained. 

Hyoscyamns, Maidenhair Fern, Tea, the drugs of 
Group IX, Flowering Tops, and the Inflorescence of 
Tilia may easily be mistaken for simple herbaceous 
leaves, and attention is therefore called to them here. 
See also introductory remarks to group IX. 

Broadly ovate, thin, smooth, 5 to 
15 cm. long, petiolate, apex taper- 
ing, margin entire; usually as 
"tops' ' with two unequal leaves at 
nodes Belladonna? Folia. 

Ovate, 10 to 30 cm. long, petiolate, 
margin crenate, reticulate on under 
surface, densely hairy Digitalis. 

Lanceolate, about 10 to 15 cm. 
long, apex acute, base unequally 
cordate, margin finely crenulate, 
under surface with prominent ve- 
nation and deeply reticulate Matico. 

Obliquely ovate or oval, about 10 
cm. long, short petiolate, margin 
irregularly sinuate or wavy - toothed, uamamelis. 

Ovate to oblong lanceolate, acu- 
minate, petiolate, 15 to 25 cm. long, 
from 5 to 8 cm. broad, evenly 
feather-veined, margin serrate Castanea. 

Ovate, petiolate, about 15 to 25 
cm. long, margin irregularly sinu- 
ously lobed or toothed, much 
wrinkled and broken stramomi Folia. 



394 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Oblong or oval-lanceolate, 10 to 
30 cm. long, petiole broadly winged, 
apex acute, margin crenate, gray- 
felty or hairy Verbasci Folia. 

Large peltate leaf, about 9-lobed, 
up to 50 cm. or more across, lobes 
acuminate, margin serrate, much 
wrinkled and broken Ricini Folia. 

Oval or ovate, lanceolate, up to 
50 cm. long, apex acute, margin 
entire, brown . . . , , Tabaciun. 

Rolled into small balls or cylin- 
ders; grayish-green, bluish-green, 
to blackish Tbea. 

Ovate, irregularly lobed leaves, 
up to 25 cm. long, gray-green, 
hairy ; usually as leafy tops ; flowers 
or capsules within persistent calyces 
Often present. Hyoscyamus. 

Frond of fern with triangular 
leaflets, with sporangia under re- 
curved edges of lobes, and thin 

glossy-brown stripes Adiantum. 

Belladonna? Folia. 

jr. Belladonna Leaves, Deadly Night-Shade. — o. 
The leaves of Atropa Belladonna', Solanecece. — h. 
Europe and Asia; cultivated. in Europe and America. 
l>. Broadly ovate, up to 15 cm. long, half as broad, 
apex acuminate, base tapering, petiolate, margin en- 
tire, thin and wrinkled, smooth, brownish-green on 
upper and grayish-green on under surfaces, both sur- 
faces with minute whitish dots when examined with 
a lens; odor, if any, somewhat narcotic, taste dis- 
agreeable and bitter. — c. The alkaloid atropine is 
the most important principle; there are besides this 
belladonnine, hyoscyamine, etc. — u. Narcotic, my- 
driatic (dilating the pupil of the eye), checks exces- 
sive sweats and suppresses secretion of milk; also 



NOTES ON PHAKMACOGNOSY. 395 




physiological antidote to opium. Dose : 0.05 to 0.25 
gram, best in tincture or fluid extract 

This drug very often consists of the tops, the twigs 
forming obtuse angles at the nodes, with two leaves 
of very uneven size at each node ; frequently wdtli 
either flowers or fruits (blackish-red berries with per- 
sistent calyx) also present. The leaves, flowers and 
fruits are shown in the illustrations in natural size. 

Antidotes : If a poisonous dose has been taken, the 
stomach should be promptly evacuated, either with 
an emetic or stomach tube, and opium or physo- 



396 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



stigma given to counteract the narcotic effects of the 
belladonna on the nervous system. 
Digitalis 
N. Digitalis, Foxglove. — - o. The leaves of Digitalis 




purpurea; Scrophularinecz. Only the leaves of the 
plants of second year's growth should be gathered. — 
H. Europe. — ». Ovate-oblong, 10 to 20 cm. long, 5 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 397 

to 10 cm. broad, apex acute, margin irregularly 
crenate, much wrinkled and broken, downy, the 
larger leaves with petiole winged, the smaller leaves 
nearly sessile ; under surface deeply reticulate with 
prominent midrib and venation, pale-green on upper 
surface and whitish-felty underneath; hair two or 
three-celled, simple or club-shaped, nodulated, not 
branched; odor faint, taste bitter, nauseous and some- 
what acrid. — c. The alkaloid digitalin, etc. — u. Ex- 
cito-motor, heart stimulant; diuretic. Dose : 0.03 to 
0.3 gfam. 

The shaded drawing shows the under side of a leaf 
of second year, while the outline drawing shows the 
more slender shape of the first year's leaf, both 
natural size. Leaves from cultivated plants are less 
hairy than those from wild-grown plants; they are 
also less active. 

Digitalis, matico and mullein leaves have been con- 
founded with each other. By comparing the figures 
of digitalis and matico the differences between these 
two drugs will become sufficiently obvious. Mullein 
leaf resembles digitalis more nearly in shape and 
general appearance, but it can readily be distin- 
guished from digitalis by its characteristic branched 
hairs which are easily seen with a lens of even quite 
low power. 

Digitalis does not keep well, and it should be kept 
in well-closed containers, away from the light, and a 
new supply should be procured each season when the 
fresh crop arrives. 

Matico. 

N. Matico. — o. The leaves of Piper angustifolium ; 
PiperacecE. — h. South America. — ». Oblong-lanceo- 
late, up to 15 cm. long, apex pointed, base unevenly 
heart-shaped, short-petiolate, margin obscurely 
crenulate, the upper surface tesselated (see smaller 
drawing, enlarged 5 diameters), the under surface 
with very prominent hairy midrib and vena- 



398 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

tion, and deeply reticulate (drawing two-thirds natural 



liN 




size), wrinkled, brittle and 
very much broken, brownish- 
green; odor peculiar, taste 
aromatic, spicy and bitter. — 
C. 14 to 2J per cent volatile oil, 
a soft, green, pungent resin, 
artanthic acid, tannin, etc. — 
U. Stimulant blennorrhetic, 
useful in chronic affections 
of the urinary organs. Dose: 
2 to 5 grams, best as fluid 
extract. 



Hamramelidis Folia. 

K. Hamamelis, Witch-Hazel 
Leaves. — o. The leaves of 
Hamamelis Virginica; 
Hamamelacece. — h. North 
America. — ». Obliquely 
ovate or oval, 10 or more 
cm. long, short-petiolate, apex obtuse, margin 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. • 399 

irregularly sinuate or wavy-toothed, base uneven, 
slightly cordate, feather-veined, Dearly smooth, much 




HAMAMELIDIS FOLIA. 



crumpled and broken, green ; no odor, taste bitter, 
astringent. — c. Tannin, bitter principle, etc. — u. 



400 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Tonic, astringent; vulnerary. Dose : About 5 grams 
in infusion or fluid extract. 

Castanea. 

n. Chestnut Leaves. 
— o.The leaves of Cas- 
tanea dentata; Cupull- 
ferce.—VL. Europe and 
America. — i>. Ovate 
to oblong-lanceolate, 
up to 25 cm. long, 5 
to 8 cm. broad, petio- 
late, apex pointed, 
margin sinuate-ser- 
rate, feather-veined, 
smooth, green to pale 
brownish-green; odor 
slight, taste astrin- 
gent. — c. About 9 
per cent tannin, etc.; 
no complete analysis 
has been made. — u. 
Tonic, astringent and 
sedative ; has been 
highly spoken of as a 
remedy for whooping 
cough. Dose : 2 to 5 
grams, best in in- 
fusion or fluid ex- 
tract. 

The illustration 
shows the leaf one- 
half natural size. 

Stramonii Folia. 

jr. Stramonium Leaves, Thornapple, Stinkweed, 
Jimson Weed. — o. The leaves of Datura Stramo- 
nium; Solanacece . The leaves of D. tatula are gath- 
ered and used like those of D. Stramonium, and sold 
under the same name ; there is no difference between 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



401 



the leaves of the two plants. — h. Native of Asia, bat 
naturalized everywhere. — d. Ovate, petiolate, up to 




25 cm. long, apex pointed, margin irregularly sin- 
uously toothed or lobed, the sides often unsymmet- 
rical in lobes and venation, lateral veins leaving mid- 
rib at a sharp angle instead of first running parallel 
with it, thin, much shrunken, crumpled and broken, 
slightly hairy on the veins, green or brownish-green ; 
nearly inodorous, but developing a disagreeable nar- 
cotic odor on rubbing and crushing in the hands, 
taste nauseous bitter. — c. Daturine (closely related 
to if not identical with atropine, hyoscyamine, etc.) 



402 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



— U. Anodyne, narcotic and hypnotic ; often smoked 
as a remedy against asthma. Dose: 0.05 to 0.2 
gram; average dose about 0.1 gram. 

The illustration shows the leaf about one-third 
natural size. 

Verfoasci Folia. 

jr. Mullein Leaves. — o. The leaves of Verbascum 
thapsus and other varieties of Verbascum; Scrophul- 
arinecz. — h. Europe and America. — ». Ovate, ellip- 
tic or oblong-lanceolate, the smaller (upper) leaves 
sessile, the larger (lower) leaves tapering to a more or 
less winged petiole, to 30 cm. long, apex acute, mar- 
gin crenate, densely felty 
or hairy on both surfaces, 
(the hairs branched ; see 
illustration), grayish-green; 
inodorous, taste mucilag- 
inous. — €. Mucilage, etc. 

— U. Demulcent; used as an 
ingredient of pectoral teas, 
mainly to increase the bulk 
of the package when sold. 

Dose : Ad libitum in infu- 
sion. The leaf resembles 
that of Digitalis, but the 
shapes of the hairs will 
differentiate them. 

Ricini Folia. 

K. Castor-oil Leaves. — o. The leaves of Ricinus 
communis ; Euphorbiacece. — h. Native of India ; cul- 
tivated in sub-tropical and warm temperate regions 
in Europe and America. — ». Large peltate or shield- 
shaped leaves, about 9-lobed, up to 50 cm. or more 
across, lobes acuminate with serrate margins and 
prominent coarse central veins, much shrunken, 
wrinkled and broken, dark-green ; little odor, taste 
somewhat acrid and disagreeable. — c. An undeter- 
mined acrid cathartic principle. — v. Castor-oil leaves 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY, 403 

are said to increase the secretion of milk when taken 




internally by, or when applied as cataplasms to the 
breasts of nursing women. Best used in the form of 
strong infusion. Dose : 5 to 15 grams. 

Tabaenm. 

jr. Tobacco. — o. The leaves of Nicotiana Taba- 
cum; Solanacece . — h. Cultivated; especially in sub- 
tropical and warm temperate regions. — i>. The well- 
known dried commercial leaves as used by tobacco- 
nists are also used as the drug. Broadly oval or ovate, 
up to 50 cm. long, apex acute, margin entire, short 
petiolate or sessile, brown, brittle, glandular-hairy ; 
odor peculiar, heavy and oppressive, taste acrid bitter 
and nauseous. — c. Two to 10 per cent of the ex- 
tremely acrid and poisonous alkaloid nicotine, nico- 
tianin, resin, extractive, etc. — u. Much employed for 
smoking, chewing, and as a sternutatory as snuff. A 
powerful depressant and poison ; sedative, emetic and 
narcotic. Dose : 0.01 to 0.05 gram ; to be used with 
great care ! 

For Hyoscyamn§ see Group IX. 

For Adiantum see Group XV. 



404 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Thea, which is really a coriaceous leaf, but arti- 
ficially crumpled and broken, might be mistaken for 
a herbaceous leaf and be sought for in this group ; it 
is fully described under Group XLVIL 

GROUP L. 

COMPOUND HERBACEOUS LEAVES. 

This group comprises the herbaceous compound 
leaves, which are like the simple herbaceous leaves 
in their structure, only differing in shape, so that the 
methods of examining them are the same as for leaves 
of Group XLIX. 

Some of the flowering tops of Group IX, as for in- 
stance Chelidonium, Millefolium, Absinthium, Cop- 
tis, Cannabis, etc., may be taken to belong in this 
group ; on the other hand, Aconite Leaves often come 
into trade as flowering tops, although only the leaves 
are supposed to be wanted. Adiantum might also be 
mistaken for a compound leaf. These facts must 
therefore be kept in mind. 
Trifoliate, with long petiole, 
side-leaflets nearly sessile, 
leaflets entire or irregularly 

lobed Rhus Toxicodendron. 

Outline round or subcordate, 
petiolate, 5 to 10 cm. in diam- 
eter, 3 to 5 parted, the lobes 
deeply incised and wedge- 
shaped Aconiti Folia. 

Large, broad leaves, with hol- 
low petiole, twice or thrice 

decompound Conii Folia. 

Long-petioled, bi- or tri-pin- 
nately decompound ; lobelets 
entire, spatulate, somewhat 
fleshy Ruta 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 405 

Rhus Toxicodendron. 

M, Poison Ivy, Poison Oak. — o. The leaves of Rhus 
Toxicodendron; Anacardiacece. — H. North Amer- 
ica. — ». The figure shows the shape, but is much re- 
duced in size ; with long petiole, trifoliate, the end- 
leaflet stalked, the side-leaflets sessile or nearly so, 




leaflets 7 to 12 cm. long and up to 10 cm. broad, ovate 
or oval, apex pointed; base rounded or wedge- 
shaped, margin entire or with a few coarse teeth or 
lobes, the upper surface smooth, the lower hairy; no 
odor, taste acrid and astringent. — c. Toxicodendric 
acid (volatile), tannin, etc. — u. Irritant and nar- 



406 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



cotic; said to have been of benefit in paralysis, 
chronic rheumatism, etc. Dose: 0.05 to 0.25 gram, 
best in form of tincture. 

Caution : The fresh leaves contain an acrid juice, so 
that when the leaves are touched intense irritation, 
blisters, or even suppuration may result. The dried 
leaves, as generally used for medicinal purposes, are 
considered inert by many. 

Aconiti Folia. 

N. Aconite Leaves, Monkshood Leaves. — o. The 
leaves of Aconitum Napellus; Ranunculacece. — h. 
Northern temperate zone. — d. The illustration gives 
a good idea of the shape of this leaf ; it is one-half 




natural size. In outline the leaf is round or broadly 
subcordate, with petiole, palmately three to five- 
lobed (when three-lobed, the lateral lobes are usually 
so deeply incised as to make the leaf appear five- 
lobed), the lobes deeply incised, with the segments 
lanceolate to wedge-shaped; brownish-green; odor 
faint, taste acrid, bitter, producing tingling sensation 
in mouth. — c. Aconitine. — - u. Sedative and motor 
depressant, in larger doses narcotic poison. Similar 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 407 

to Aconite root, but weaker and more variable in 
strength, so that the preparations of the root ought to 
be preferred. Dose: 0.05 to 0.20 gram, best in tinc- 
ture or fluid extract. 

Conii Folia* 
X. Conium Leaves, Hemlock Leaves. — o. The 
leaves of Conium maculatum ; Umbelliferce. — H. 
Northern temperate zone. — 1>. The shape is well 
shown in the drawing ; the petioles are hollo v and 
sheathing around the stem; the leaves are up to 30 




cm. long, in outline round, ovate or triangularly 
ovate acuminate, ternately decompound, the pinnae 
deeply incised, with the teeth ending in whitish 
points, smooth, upper surface dull bluish-green, 
lower surface lighter-colored and somewhat glossy ; 
odor and taste disagreeably nauseous. The illustra- 
. tion shows the leaf one-third natural size and a lobe- 



408 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY . 

let natural size. — c. Coniine, volatile oil, etc. — u. Sed- 
ative narcotic, especially of use in the wakefulness of 
the insane; also frequently added to purgatives to 
prevent griping. Dose: 0.2 to 0.5 gram, best in form 
of fluid extract. 

This drug is very hygroscopic, and therefore liable 
to become mouldy. It should be kept in a thor- 
oughly dry place ; the fresh color is apt to change to 
yellowish-brown or dirty brown when exposed to 
moist atmosphere. 




RUT A. 

The leaves are so variable in strength that the 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 409 

preparations of the fruit should always be preferred ; 
even the latter are very variable in action in different 
lots, so that great caution should be exercised when 
prescribing this drug. 

In over-doses coniurn is a narcotic poison, killing 
by paralysis of the respiratory muscles; antidotal 
treatment, therefore, resembles that for opium poison- 
ing, emetics, stimulants (alcohol, coffee, nux vomica), 
enforced exercise, hot applications and electricity. 

Rata. 

nr. Kue, Garden Rue. — o. The leaves of Ruta 
graveolens; Rutacecz. — H. Southern Europe. — d. 
The illustration shows the shape of the leaf in 
natural size; the leaves are somewhat fleshy, twice or 
thrice pinnatified, the lobelets about 6 to 12 mm. 
long, somewhat spatulate or obovate, slightly crenate 
near the apex, smooth, grayish-green, pellucid-punc- 
tate; odor aromatic, balsamic ; taste bitter and acrid. 
— C. Volatile oil, resin, etc. — u. Stimulant, carmi- 
native and anthelmintic. Iu large doses emmena- 
gogue, for which purpose this drug is probably most 
frequently employed. Dose: 0.5 to 2 grams in 
infusion. 

FLOWERS. 

The flower is an altered leaf bud and contains the 
sexual organs which are necessary to produce seed. 
In pharmacognosy, however, the term "flower" has a 
wider meaning, since.it includes whole inflorescences, 
flower-buds, flowers, and parts of flowers. 

Inflorescence signifies the mode of the arrangement 
of flowers on the plant axis, and in pharmacognosy 
is used especially in the sense of signifying the pecul- 
iar flower-clusters, as racemes, heads, umbels, cj^mes, 
etc. ; the meaning of these terms is supposed to have 
been learned from some book on botany. 

By the words simple or single flower, any flower is 
meant that is not a compound flower; it is therefore 



410 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

not meant in the sense of a solitary or axillary 
flower, but one, a single one, whether it grew singly or 
solitary, or whether it was gathered from a cluster ; 
in the trade it occurs separate from all other flowers 
or from any peduncle or axis on which it may have 
grown. 

A compound flower is a cluster of flowers, the in- 
florescence of a plant of the class Composites; such 
an inflorescence consists of numerous small flowers 
gathered into a head which is surrounded by an encir- 
cling cluster of leaves which resemble a calyx and 
which constitute the involucre ; the end of the stem is 
broadened into the receptacle or disc on which are 
situated the individual flowers, the whole cluster 
looking like one flower, wherefore it is called a com- 
pound flower. 

Flowers are divided into the following groups: 



\^,^^^....\^^v^^^ 



Flowers.. 



*°* io U p n e n P ed ned . 

simple flowers ( ^ „ f< , j corallas. . . 

parts I stigmas . . 



compound. ] uuu p c " cu »52 
p ( opened 53 

54 

55 
56 
57 



GROUP LI . 

RACEMOSE OR CYMOSE INFLORESCENCES. 

The nature of racemose and cymose inflorescences 
is supposed to have been learned from some book on 
botany, but as far as pharmacognosy is concerned, or 
rather, as far as the method of pharmacognosy here 
employed is concerned, we might group inflores- 
cences merely as "compound" and "not compound" ; 
perhaps it might be better to say here, "inflorescences 
of simple flowers" and "inflorescences of compound 
flowers". This group comprises the "not compound" 
inflorescences. By inflorescence we mean those parts 
of plants which bear the flowers without leafy portions 
being attached; if leafy parts are included regularly 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY, 411 

with a drug of this general character, it would be a 
"flowering top," and belong in Group IX. 

The umbels of dill,- anise, fennel, caraway, parsley, 
celery, etc., with fruits instead of flowers, are to be 
obtained in the markets as "sweet herbs," for culi- 
nary purposes; while at first glance they might be con- 
sidered to belong here, the fact that they are mature 
fruits places them elsewhere, and moreover, they do 
not occur thus in the wholesale drug trade. 
Large panicles in bundles, rolls 
or compressed clusters; red- 
dish-brown Cnsso. 

Bundles of one-sided racemes 
with about eight or nine bell- 
shaped flowers; scape about 

15 cm. long Convallaria? Flores. 

Heads of small, reddish, papi- 
lionaceous flowers, with foli- 
age leaves at base Trifoiium. 

Pale yellowish-green bracts with 

cymes of three to nine flowers . Tilia. 
Large corymbose cymes of yel- 
lowish color Sambucus. 

Cnsso. 

K. Cusso, Cousso, Kousso, Brayera. — o. The 
female inflorescence of Hagenia Abysstnica; 
Rosacece. — h. Abyssinia, Africa. — i>. The illus- 
tration shows a bundle wrapped with the bast of 
some plant, but many of the bundles of the drug 
are not so wrapped; the illustration is about three- 
tenths natural size. The flowers are also figured: 

a, the section of a flower with fruit partly matured ; 

b, pistil; c, section of female flower; d, male flower, 
abortive pistils; e, female flower, abortive stamens 
and anthers;/, flower-bud of male flower ; all much 
enlarged. The bundles, rolls or compressed clus- 
ters consist of panicles about 25 cm. long, with a 



412 



NOTES ON PHAKMACOGNOSY. 



sheathing bract at the base of each branch; the drug 
should consist of tolerably well pre- 
served clusters without the coarse 
stems; not of crushed flowers with 
pieces of the stem; the two roundish 
bracts at the base of each (female) 
flower and the five outer, obovate 




sepals are reddish-brown and mem- 
branous; the calyx is cup-shaped 
and contains two carpels, free from 
each other, and often partly devel- 
oped into immature nut-like fruits; 
the odor, though faint, reminds of 
elder flowers, and the taste is slight 
at first, but afterwards becomes 
bitter and somewhat acrid. — c. Kosin 
about 3 per cent, tannin about 24 per 
cent, and resin about 6 per cent. — u. 
Anthelmintic, taenicide; not very 
reliable in action. Dose: 10 to 25 
grams, in powder or electuary; or 
the powder may be made into an 
infusion with warm water and swal- 
lowed without straining. 

The female inflorescence is in bun- 
dles of distinctly reddish tint and is 
known in the trade as "red kousso;" 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



413 



it is the best kind. The bundles of male 
inflorescence are of a greenish or green- 
ish-brown color and are called ' 'brown 
kousso" in the trade; they are inferior. 

Convallarise Flores. 

N. Lily of the Valley Flowers, Con- 
vallaria Flowers. — o. The inflorescence 
of Convallaria majalis; Liliacece. — H. 
Europe, Northern Asia and America; 
generally cultivated by florists. — ». The 
flowers occur in the drug trade tied up 
in bundles just as the gardeners sell the 
fresh flowers ; such bundles are about 2 
cm. thick at the lower end, and rather 
loose or not much compressed at the 
flowering ends. The one-sided nodding 
raceme is about 15 cm. long and consists 
of an angular scape, beset with about 
eight or nine small bell-shaped flowers, 
white when fresh, but yellowish-brown 
in the dried drug. The illustration 
shows the withered raceme of a her- 
barium specimen in natural size, and one 
fresh flower, also natural size. — c. Con- 
vallarin and Convallamarin. — u. Similar 
to those of the rhizome, already de- 
scribed under Group XXII, and which 
is generally preferred as a drug ; heart 
stimulant. Dose: 1 to 2.5 grams, best 
in form of fluid extract. 
Trifolium. 

N. Red Clover, Red Clover Tops. — o. 
The flower-heads of Trifolium prat ens e ; 
Papilionacecz. — h. Cultivated. — i>. 
Heads of flowers, immediately below 
which there are two foliage leaves, the 
stipules of which are winged and enclose 



414 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



the base of the head; the 




leaves are three-lobed, or fre- 
quently one or both of the 
lower lobes are absent in 
one or both of the leaves, 
so that they may appear 
to be two-lobed orsimple; 
the head contains from 
50 to 150 flowers on a con- 
ical rhachis; the flowers 
are tubular, papilionace- 
ous, purplish-red when 
fresh, but often brown- 
ish-red in the dried drug; 
fragrant, sweetish. The illustration shows the inflo- 
rescence natural size. — c. Cumarin, etc. — u. Ked 
Clover has been 
recommended as a 
remedy for whoop- 
ing cough; proba- 
bly of little value. 
Dose: 5 to lOgrams, 
in infusion or fluid 
extract. 

Tilia. 
jr. Linden Flow- 
e r s . — o. and h. 
The whole inflo- 
rescence, with the 
bract properly be- 
longing to it, of 
several varieties of 
Tilia, of which T. 
Americana and T. 
heterophylla are 
American varieties 
and T. ulmifolia, 
T. Europea, T. vulgaris, T. par vi folia, and T. platy- 
phylla are European, although T. ulmifolia is also 




NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 415 

cultivated in the United States ; Tiliacece. Most of the 
drug comes from Germany. — 1>. The inflorescence of 
T. ulmifolia is figured in natural size ; the inflores- 
cences of other varieties are similar except that the 
number of flowers may be different. Linden flowers 
occur in 3 to 9-flowered racemes, the common stem of 
which springs from the middle of a bract which is 
from 5 to 10 cm. long; the flowers are yellowish- white 
and the thin, membranous, netted-veined bracts are 
pale green ; in the dried state, as drug, the flowers are 
yellowish, but the bracts should remain greenish and 
not be brownish; odor pleasant but feeble; taste 
sweetish. — €. Traces of volatile oil and aromatic resin, 
mucilage, etc. — u. Diaphoretic, in copious draughts of 
hot infusion ; it is probable that the hot water has at 
least as much to do with the action of these draughts 
as the linden flowers. Dose : 2 to 5 grams, in infusion. 
Tiie whole inflorescence of Sanitmcns or Elder 
Flowers came into trade formerly, and does so occa- 
sionally now; large, corymbose cymes, much 
branched, often up to 25 cm. across the flattened top, 
but generally much broken; yellowish. Now the 
peduncles and pedicels of the inflorescence are 
usually separated from the flowers and rejected, so 
that the flowers alone constitute the drug, for which 
reason this drug will be described under Group LV, 
opened single flowers. 

GROUP LII. 

UNOPENED COMPOUND FLOWER-HEADS. 

Only one drug of this group occurs in our trade, 
namely, the so-called "Levant Wormseed" ; it resem- 
bles a seed, so that it is generally called "worrnseed", 
but a careful examination, especially if with a lens, 
will show the external scales of the involucre. 
Elongated, somewhat angular, scaly flower- 
heads, 2 to 3 mm. long, grayish-green; 
unopened Santonica. 



416 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Santonica. 

N. Santonica, Levant Wormseed, Flores Cinse, 




Semen Contra. — o. The unexpanded flower-heads of 
Artemisia pauciflora; Composites, — h. Turkestan. 

— ». Oblong-ovoid, grayish-green, somewhat glossy 
flower-heads, about 2 to 3 mm. long, covered with 12 
to 18 imbricated glandular scales which enclose 3 to 5 
rudimentary or undeveloped florets; odor strong, 
peculiar, aromatic and slightly camphoraceous; taste 
bitter, aromatic, leaving a slightly cooling sensation 
in the mouth. — c. Santoninum, volatile oil, etc. 

— U. Anthelmintic, especially for round worms or 
lumbrici. Dose : 1 to 5 grams, best in form of pow- 
der made into an electuary. 

A brownish color indicates that the drug has been 
exposed tolight or is old, the probability being that 
in either case it has deteriorated. It should have a 
grayish-green color, not brownish-green, and the 
odor should be strong. 

In the illustrations a, b, c, d show the flower-heads 
of Artemisia Vahliana> whole, in longitudinal sec- 
tion, one scale and one floret; e and / show the 
flower-heads of A, pauciflora (A. maritima; A. 
Cind) whole, and one scale showing glands, which 
are orange-colored, all much enlarged. 

Authors differ in regard to the exact source of this 
drug, and it is probable that the plant may vary 
under various circumstances, so that the drug may 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 417 

also vary somewhat according to soil, etc. Some 
authors claim that Santonica is derived from several 
varieties of Artemisia. 

GROUP LIU. 

EXPANDED COMPOUND FLOWER-HEADS. 

The nature of compound flower-heads was de- 
scribed under the last group ; the group we are now 
considering includes the expanded compound flower- 
heads. Occasionally, but rarely, the flowering tops 
of Matricaria are used instead of the flower-heads 
alone, and not infrequently the flower-heads alone of 
Tanacetum occur in the trade, instead of the flower- 
ing tops, which were already described in Group IX. 
In order to properly examine the drugs of this 
group, the flower-heads may be soaked in water when 
they will resume the shape and size of the freshly- 
flowering inflorescence, and the details of their 
structure can then be more readily compared with 
the descriptions and illustrations. 
Heads about 3 cm. broad, with scaly 
involucre, flat receptacle, about 15 
to 20 yellow ray-florets and many 

disk-florets with pappus Arnica* Flores. 

Sub-globular heads, about 2 cm. broad, 
with imbricate involucre, conical 
solid receptacle, numerous white 
ligulate florets and few disk-florets. . Anthemis. 
Heads about 2 cm. broad, with imbri- 
cate involucre, conical hollow re- 
ceptacle, 12 to 18 white ray-florets 
and many deep-yellow disk-florets . . Matricaria. 
Heads depressed roundish, about 2.5 
cm. broad, with imbricate invo- 
lucre, convex receptacle, about 20 to 
30 pinkish ray -florets and numerous 

yellow disk-florets Pyrethri Flores. 

Heads sub-globular, about 4 to 8 mm. 



418 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



broad, with imbricate involucre 
convex receptacle, and numerous 

yellow tubular florets Tanacetnm. 

Arnica? Flores. 

X. Arnica Flowers. — o. The flower-heads of Arnica 
montana; Composites. — h. Europe and Northern 
Asia. — b. The flower-heads are roundish, about 3 
cm. broad, with double rows of scales in hairy in- 
volucre, receptacle nearly flat, small and hairy, with 
15 to 20 bright yellow ray-florets and numerous disk- 
florets; the ray-florets are female, about 4 cm. long, 




with tubular part of corolla about 4 mm. long, from 
which the bifid stigma protrudes, the ligule about 4 to 
5 mm. broad, 9-nerved and 3-toothed ; the disk-florets 
are perfect (hermaphrodite), about 2 cm. long, with 
5-toothed tubular corolla from which the anther-tube 
and bifid stigma protrude; in both ray and disk 
florets, the 4 mm. long ovary (or partially formed 
fruit, an achene) is surmounted with a hairy pappus ; 
odor feebly aromatic and taste bitter and acrid. 
— c. Volatile oil, arnicin (nature not determined), 
resin, tannin, etc. — u. Mainly used externally as a 
vulnerary lotion or dressing ; sometimes used inter- 
nally as a stimulant. Dose : 0.5 to 1 gram, in tincture. 
The illustrations show the involucre, ray-floret, 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 419 

disk-floret and pappus hair all in natural size. The 
drug should be gathered before the fruit commences 
to develop, as the drug is apt afterwards to contain 
the larvae of an insect ( Try p eta) in the involucre and 
the more plentiful pappus. The ray-florets should 
therefore be bright-yellow, not withered and brown, 
and the drug should not have a gray and hairy ap- 
pearance from pappus. It is recommended by some 
authorities that the involucre should always be re- 
jected, because that part of the drug is most apt to 
contain the insects which are the probable cause of 
the irritation or urticaria sometimes produced by 
preparations of this drug. 

Aiithemis. 

N. Anthemis, Chamomile, Roman Chamomile, Eng- 
lish Chamomile. — o. The flower-heads of Anthemis 
nobilis; Composites, — h. Cultivated in Europe and 
in some localities of the United States. — 1>. Sub- 
globular heads about 2 cm. broad, with imbricate in- 
volucre, chaffy, conical, solid receptacle and numer- 
ous ray-florets with white strap-shaped, 3-toothed 
corolla, and but few yellow, tubular disk-florets ; odor 
rather agreeably aromatic, taste bitter aromatic. 
— C. Volatile oil, bitter principle, etc. — u. Stimu- 
lant tonic and carminative ; in large doses emetic and 
emmenagogue (?). Mostly used as a diaphoretic, in 
copious draughts of hot, but weak infusion, while the 
patient is covered up in bed ; the diaphoretic effect is 
mainly due to the hot water, though aided by the 
general relaxation produced by the nauseating effect 
of the chamomile. Dose : 1 to 5 grams, best in in- 
fusion as a tea. 

In the wild-growing variety of this plant the 
flower-heads have only about fifteen ray-florets and 
many disk-florets; through cultivation the flower- 
head has become "double", that is, most of the disk- 
florets have become changed to ray-florets ; the culti- 



420 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



vated variety is less disagreeable to the taste than the 
wild-growing. 

The illustration shows a fresh flower-head of the 
cultivated variety in natural size, but in the drug the 
ligules are shrunken and doubled over the head so 




that it looks much smaller ; the vertical section of the 
single or wild flower-head, one ray and one disk 
floret, stigma and fruit are shown considerably 
enlarged. 

Cotula, the flower-heads or the flowering tops of 
Anthemis Cotula, Mayweed, Wild Chamomile or Dog 
Chamomile (a common weed), are used for the same 
purposes as Anthemis nobilis; the taste and odor of 
Cotula are so disagreeable, however, that it is not a 
popular drug and is used only when other chamomile 
cannot be had. The flower-heads of Anthemis 
Cotula are single, not double. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



421 



Matricaria. 

N. Chamomile, German Chamomile; this is the 
drug that is wanted when Germans ask for "chamo- 
mile". — o. The flower-heads (or sometimes the 
flowering tops) of Matricaria Chamomilla; Com- 
posites. — h. Europe. — i>. Heads about 2 cm. broad, 
with flat imbricate involucre, conical, hollow, naked 
receptacle, 12 to 15 female ray-florets about 8 mm. 
long, with white ligulate, 3-toothed corolla, and nu- 
merous perfect (hermaphrodite) tubular disk-florets 
with yellow, 5-toothed corolla ; odor peculiar, some- 
what disagreeable and nauseous, taste bitter aro- 
matic. — c. Minute quantity of volatile oil, bitter 
extractive, tannin, etc. — u. Same as those of the 
previous drug, Anthemis. 




Owing to the hollow receptacle the flower-heads 
shrink much on drying and are easily crumbled ; a 
good drug should have whole flower-heads, with 
fresh, bright colors and strong characteristic odor 



422 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

and taste. The hollow receptacle distinguishes this 
drug from any possible adulteration. 

The illustrations show a portion of the flowering 
top with three flower-heads in natural size (fresh) ; 
the involucre with receptacle (d), vertical section of 
same (e), ray-floret (b) and disk-floret (c) all en- 
larged. 

Tlie flower-heads of several varieties of Pyretbrum 
{Chrysanthemum) are imported, but they reach the 
retail pharmacist only in the shape of "Persian In- 
sect Powder". These flower-heads resemble in shape 
those of Anthemis, but the involucres are usually 
marked with red to brown markings, and the ray- 
florets are pinkish to reddish. The drug is of no 
particular interest in its whole condition to the 
pharmacist. 

Tanacetum, the flowering tops (or occasionally the 
flower-heads) of Tanacetum vulgare, has already 
been described and figured under Group IX, but as 
the drug sometimes consists of the flower-heads 
alone it is also mentioned here. 

GROUP LIV. 

UNOPENED SINGLE FLOWERS. 

Only two drugs consisting of unexpanded buds 
(Latin: Alabastri) of single flowers are of sufficient 
importance to need mention here : 
Subcylindrical calyx tube with four 

teeth, terminated by a corolla 

forming a globular head; about 

15 mm. long ; brown Caryophyllus. 

Ovoid buds, about 12 to 15 mm. 

long, with 5-toothed calyx ; pale 

brownish-yellow Aurantii Flores. 

Caryophyllus. 

jr. Cloves. — o. The unopened flower-buds (un- 
expanded flowers) of Eugenia aromatica; Myrtacece. 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



423 



— H. Molucca Islands ; cultivated in tropical regions 
of the Eastern continent. — ». About 15 to 18 mm. 
long and 4 to 5 mm. thick through thickest part ; 
dark- brown, with a subcylindrical calyx tube which 
at its upper end is divided into four spreading notches 
or sepals supporting four petals which overlap each 
other and form a globular head (bud) covering nu- 
merous curved stamens and one style ; the calyx tube 




contains the ovaries in its upper part and throughout 
its entire length contains near its outer surface many 
small intercellular gland-spaces or oil-glands; the 
odor is strongly aromatic and the taste pungent and 
spicy. — c. The only constituent of value is the vola- 
tile oil, which is so abundant (15 to 20 #) that it ex- 
udes simply on pressure of the surface of the clove 
with the finger-nail. — u. Spice and condiment. 
Stimulant, carminative and stomachic. Dose : 1 to 2 
grams in infusion. 

The illustrations show a whole clove (a) and a fruit 
(£) in natural size ; also a clove with petals removed 
(c) and a vertical section of a clove (d), both en- 
larged. 

The unripe fruits of the clove tree come into the 
trade under the name of "mother-cloves" or "antho- 



424 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



phylli" ; they are much weaker than cloves, and are 
mainly used to adulterate the latter when powdered. 

Cloves, to be good, must be plump, heavy, of rich 
brown color, strong spicy odor and pungent aromatic 
taste; they should be kept in well-closed vessels. 
Occasionally cloves are mixed with some from which 
the volatile oil has been abstracted by distillation; 
such cloves are much shrunken, appear to be moist, 
are dark-colored or almost black and the heads 
formed by the petals are generally broken or miss- 
ing ; they are, of course, much weaker in odor and 
taste. 

Aurantii Flores. 

N. Orange Flowers, Flores Naphcz. — ©. The un- 
opened flower-buds (unexpanded flowers) of Citrus 
vulgaris and C. Aurantium; Rutacece. — h. Culti- 
vated in all subtropical countries. — i>. About 15 mm. 
long without the flower-stalk which is often present ; 
the calyx is cup-shaped, small and 5-notched and in- 
closes the base of the corolla which consists of five 




over-lapping pale brownish-yellow petals forming an 
ovoid head (bud) covering numerous polyadelphous 
stamens inserted on a disk around a pistil with a 
globular ovary and stigma; odor fragrant and taste 
aromatic bitter. — c. Volatile oil and bitter ex- 
tractive. — u. Slightly stimulant and antispasmodic 
(?), but not much used. 
The illustrations show the whole bud (a) and the 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 425 

expanded flower (£) in natural size ; also the bud 
with petals removed, showing stamens surrounding 
the pistil (V), and the same with the stamens re- 
moved (d), the latter two illustrations enlarged. 

The fresh flowers are used for making the distilled 
water of orange flowers ; sometimes the fresh flowers 
are salted down in jars with about one-third of their 
weight of salt, and distilled water may be made from 
these. The dried flowers which constitute the drug 
described above are practically worthless; the dried 
flowers should be rejected if they are not strongly 
fragrant or if they are of a decided brown color. 

GROUP LV. 

OPENED SINGLE FLOWERS. 

Under this group we find single simple flowers as 
well as single florets from compound flowers ; the 
characteristic being that the flowers are entire. 
When a drug consists only of parts of flowers it be- 
longs in Group LVI or LVII. Flowers can best be 
examined by first soaking in water, by which they to 
a certain extent resume their fresh shape and allow 
dissecting, to demonstrate botanical details. 

Simple Flowers: 
Small shriveled, pale brownish-yel- 
low, roundish grains Sambncns. 

Small two-lipped flowers with 

bluish-gray calyx and violet-blue 

corolla Lavandula. 

Calyx grayish-green, felty, 5-parted; 

corolla 5-lobed, wheel-shaped , 

yellow Verbasei Flores. 

Light grayish-green, double calyx, 

felty with stellate hairs; petals 

purplish-black Althaea* Flores. 

Similar to last, somewhat smaller, 

and the corolla bluish-purple in 

dry drug Malvre Flores. 



426 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Florets from Compound Flowers: 
Yellow, strap-shaped, fertile 

(female) ray-florets Calendula. 

Deep-red, thin tubular, 5-lobed 
corolla, with projecting anther 
tube and style Carthamns. 

Neuter (sexless) florets, with tubu- 
lar corolla ending in 7-parted 
blue limb . . B Cyani Flores. 

Sambucus. 

N. Elder Flowers. — o. The flowers of Sambucus 
Canadensis and 6 1 . nigra; Caprifoliacecz . — H. 6". 

nigra is preferred 
in Europe and 
England because 
it grows there, and 
6*. Canadensis is 
preferred in Amer- 
ica because it is indigenous here; there is no need to 
distinguish between the two kinds as they are practi- 
cally alike in appearance and in medicinal value. 

— B. In the dried drug the flowers are shriveled 
into roundish grains or balls scarcely more than li to 
2 mm. in diameter, pale brownish-yellow, with a 
peculiar fragrant odor and a sweetish, mucilaginous, 
aromatic and finally somewhat acrid taste. By soak- 
ing in w r ater the flowers may be recognized as such 
and can be more readily examined. The fresh flow- 
ers are about 5 mm. broad, calyx superior and 
minutely 5-toothed, corolla 5-lobed, wheel-shaped, 
cream-colored or white, with five extrorse stamens, 
pistil with three roundish stigmas ; the illustrations 
show upper surface of flower enlarged (a), under sur- 
face of flower enlarged (£), from side, corolla and 
stamens removed (c), and flower in natural size (d). 

— c. Very small quantity of volatile oil, resin, tannin, 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



127 



etc. — c. Stimulant diaphoretic. 
best in infusion. 



Dose: 2 to 4 grains, 




Lavandula. 

jr. Lavender, Lavender Flowers. — o. The flowers 
of Lavandula vera; Labi- 
ates. — h. Cultivated in 
Europe and America. — 
». Small blue flowers, about 
12 mm. long, calyx tubular, 
5-toothed, the tooth on the* 
back of the flower larger 
than the others and round- 
ish, calyx bluish-gray, 
hairy, the corolla violet- 
blue, labiate, the upper lip obcordate, larger and 
2-lobed, the lower lip smaller and 3-lobed, hairy- 
glandular on outer surface, four stamens on inside 3f 
tube; fragrant odor and aromatic, camphoraceous and 
bitterish taste. The illustrations show a flower in 
natural size (a), same enlarged, front (£) and back 
(c). — c. One to three per cent of volatile oil, resin, 
etc. — u. Stimulant carminative. Rarely used inter- 
nally, except as a flavoring agent ; the whole flowers 
are often used as sachet perfume. 

Verbasci Flores, Mullein Flowers, are sometimes 
gathered entire, but usually the drug consists of the 
corollas alone, wherefore the description of this drug 
is to be found in the next group. 

Althaeae Flores. 

N. Flores Malvae Arborese, Mallow Flowers, Holly- 
hock flowers. — o. The flowers of Althcza rosea; 
Malvacecz. — h. Cultivated ; in cultivation the flow- 
ers are often double. — i>. The flowers of this plant 
vary in color, white, yellow, rose, red, brown to pur- 
plish-red and purplish-black, but only the dark- 
colored flowers aie gathered for the trade. Holly- 
hock flowers are 7 to 10 cm. broad, calyx gray-felty 



428 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

with stellate hairs, double, the outer layer of sepals 
(also called involucre) 9-cleft, the inner layer 5-cleft, 
corolla 5-lobed, the petals broadly obovate, notched 
at apex, united at base to the base of a column or 
tube formed by the union of the numerous filaments 
bearing many kidney-shaped anthers, and within 
which tube are the stigmas ; odor slight, taste sweet- 




ish mucilaginous and slightly astringent. The illus- 
tration shows the upper surface of a flower, natural 
size ; the column bearing anthers is shown. — c. 
Mucilage, tannin, etc. — u. Demulcent, emollient. 
Used as an ingredient of "species pectorales." 

The infusion of the petals is rendered red by acids, 
green by alkalies. The petals are also brought into 
trade alone, as corollas, and can be used as a rich and 
harmless coloring agent for artificial fruit syrups, etc. 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



429 



Malvse Fiores, Mallow Flowers, slightly smaller 
than those from Althcea rosea, are obtained from 
Malva sylvestris, M. rotundifolia , etc. The flowers 
of these plants are similar to the above, except that 
the petals have a blaish-purple color when dry, as in 
the drug. European writers (Schleiden, Berg, etc.) 
include under the title "Fiores Malvae Arboreae" the 
flowers of Althcea rosea, A, officinalis, Malva sylves- 
tris, M. rotundifolia, M. neglecta, etc., so that it is 
probable that no accurate distinctions need be made 
in the drugs known in the trade as "flores althaeae" 
or "flores malvae." 

These flowers vary in size and color, and to a 
limited extent in other regards, but resemble the 
illustration closely enough for identification; they all 
have the central column hollow stamen-tube with 
numerous anthers. 

They are all used for the same purposes as the 
Flores Althaeae described above. 

Calendula. 

N* Calendula Flowers, Marigold Flowers. — o. The 
ray -florets of Calendula officinalis; 
Composite?. — H. Cultivated every- 
where. — i>. Occasionally the flowering 
tops are used. The plant has a rough, 
angular stem, alternate, thick, hairy, 
spatulate leaves ; flower-heads about 5 
cm. broad, with conspicuous bright 
orange-yellow florets. Generally, how- 
ever, only the ray-florets are gathered. 
The ray-florets are fertile (female), 
have a slightly curved ovary and a ligu- 
late corolla, bright orange-yellow, up to 
2.5 cm. long and 3 mm. wide, 3-toothed 
and delicately striate longitudinally, 
the bifid style projecting from the short 
tube of the corolla ; there is no pappus, by which 




430 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

characteristic calendula flowers may be readily dis- 
tinguished from arnica flowers or other similar flow- 
ers. The illustrations show a ray-floret in natural 
size, and enlarged. — c. An amorphous bitter prin- 
ciple, traces of volatile oil, yellow coloring principle, 
etc. — u. Reputed to possess tonic, antispasmodic, 
diaphoretic and emmenagogue properties. Used also 
as a vulnerary externally, for similar purposes as 
arnica, to which drug it is probably superior, because 
less apt to be infested with insects and therefore less 
likely to produce the trouble which is usually called 
"arnica urticaria." Dose: 0.5 to 1 gram in infusion. 

Cartbamus. 

N. Saftlower, American Saffron. — ©. The florets of 
Carthamus tinctorius ; Composite. — 
H. Cultivated in India, Asia, Europe 
and elsewhere. — i>. The illustration 
shows a floret in natural size ; the com- 
pound flower-heads are large and the 
florets are yellow, but after fertilization 
when the corollas commence to wither, 
the florets change to a deep orange-red 
color ; it is at this time that the florets 
are gathered by plucking from the 
flower-heads. The floret consists of a 
very thin cylindrical tube, about 2.5 
cm. long, ending in a 5-cleft limb, each 
lobe of which is about 4 to 6 mm. long ; 
from this tube projects the syngenesious anther-tube, 
yellow, and also about 4 to 6 mm. long, and through 
the latter the stigma protrudes another 6 mm., so 
that the total length of the floret is about 40 mm., 
but that of the corolla alone only about 2.5 cm. ; odor 
feeble, peculiar, taste insipid, faintly bitterish. — 
C. Carthamin, about 40% yellow coloring principle, 
etc. — u. Diaphoretic in infusion. Dose: 2 to 5 
grams. Mainly used as a coloring agent, or as a 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY, 431 

cheap substitute for genuine saffron; tbi3 drug is 
sometimes called "false saffron." 

The Oriental or Indian varieties of this drug are 
most highly esteemed and in the best grades of this 
drug the corolla was picked from the ovary in the 
gathering, so that the ovary is missing; see next 
group. 

€yani Flores. 

W. Only used by German pharmacists, to whom it 
is knoAvn as "Korn-Blurue" or corn- 
flower. — o. The ray-floret of Centaur ea 
Cyanus; Composites. — h. A common 
weed in European grain ("Korn") fields. 

— ». The ray-florets are neuter or sexless, 
about 3 cm. long, corolla consisting of a 
thin tube expanding into a cup-shaped, 
irregularly 7-cleft limb, of a blue color. 
See illustration, natural size. The flowers 
must be dried quickly and kept in a dry 
and dark place as they otherwise bleach readily. 

— C. Mucilage, etc. — u. German pharmacists are 
fond of giving a peculiar mottled appearance to their 
preparations of "species pectorales" and they use for 
this purpose such inert substances as possess pro- 
nounced bright colors : Flores Cyani, flores malvce, 
flores verbasci, etc. Flores Cyani have no medicinal 
virtues. 

GROUP LVI. 

COROLLAS. 

This group includes only the corollas, either entire 
as in Verbasci Flores, or the separate petals (Latin : 
Petald) as in Rosa cenzifolia. Flores Cyani, consist- 
ing of neuter florets, have the appearance of corollas 
only, although they are really entire florets ; they 
may therefore be looked for here and are mentioned 
for this reason in this group. Safflower, already men- 
tioned in the last group, is sometimes gathered by 




432 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

pinching off the corolla, leaving or rejecting the 
ovary, so that the drug does not consist of entire 
flowers but only of parts of flowers ; however, the 
corolla with the stamens and style projecting look so 
much like an entire flower, that the drug would still 
probably be looked for in the previous group. Mul- 
lein flowers usually consist only of the corolla with 
inclosed adherent stamens; they would therefore 
probably be looked for here, but because the whole 
flowers are sometimes found in the trade, they are 
also mentioned under Group LV. 
Roundish-obovate or obcordate 
petals of pinkish color and fra- 
grant odor Rosa Centlfolia. 

Deep purplish-red cones, about 2.5 
cm. long, consisting of imbricated 

roundish petals Rosa Oallica. 

Five-lobed, wheel-shaped, hairy, 
yellow corolla, with five coherent 

anthers enclosed Verbascl Flores. 

Nearly round, thin, dark-red petals, 
about 5 cm. broad, with a blue- 
black Spot at the base Rhoeadis Flores. 

Five obovate-cuneate, deep-red to 
purplish-black petals, each about 
2.5 to 4 cm. long, united at the 

base Althaeas Flores. 

Similar to last, but smaller and 

bluish-purple Malvse Flores. 

Deep-red, thin tubular, 5-lobed 
corolla, with projecting anther 

tube and style cartnamus. 

Neuter (sexless) florets, with tubu- 
lar corolla ending in 7-parted 

blue limb Cyan! Flores. 

Rosa Centlfolia. 
N. Pale Rose, Pale Rose Leaves, Rose Leaves. 
— o. The petals of Rosa centlfolia; Rosacea. — H. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



433 




Western Asia, bat now cultivated everywhere. — ». 

Cultivated roses 
are double flowers 
having many 
petals; the pale- 
red petals of the 
variety under con- 
sideration are 
ovate, roundish, 
broader than long, notched at apex so as to appear al- 
most obcordate, the upper margin often recurved; the 
illustration shows one of the larger outer petals as it 
appears when fresh ; if carefully dried the petals retain 
their shapes and fresh color fairly well, but exposure to 
light is apt to change the delicate pink color to a pale 
brownish-yellow; odor fragrant, taste slightly astrin- 
gent. — c. Traces of volatile oil, tannin, etc. — u. For 
flavoring. Sometimes preserved undried with one- 
half of its weight of salt by packing tightly in jars; 
these leaves may then be used for making rose water 
by destination, but the latter can be bought so much 
better and more economically that probably very 
few pharmacists would take the trouble to make their 
rose water from salted leaves. 



Rosa Gallica. 

*f- Red Rose. — o. The petals of the unopened buds 
of Rosa Gallica; Rosacea. — H. 
Southern and middle Europe, east- 
ward to Caucasia; now cultivated 
everywhere. — b. The petals are re- 
moved from the bud without separat- 
ing them, and then quickly dried, so 
that the drug consists of small cones, 
varying somewhat in size, each cone 
consisting of numerous imbricated, 
roundish, notched, deep-purplish-red petals; the 
yellow claws or bases of the petals should be cut 




434 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



away when the drag is gathered, but are frequently 
allowed to remain; odor fragrant, taste slightly 
astringent. — c. Traces of volatile oil, tannin, etc. 
— U. Mainly for flavoring. 

Verbasci Flores. 

ST. Mullein Flowers. — o. and h. The corollas (with 

stamens), or 
more rarely the 
entire flowers 
of several va- 
rieties of Ver- 
b as cum; the 
common mul- 
lein of Amer- 
ica is Verbas- 
cum thapsus; 
Scrophulari- 
acece. The two 
varieties V. 
thapsiforme 
and V. p hlo- 
moides are com- 
mon weeds in Europe, where V. thapsus also occurs. 
All three varieties furnish the drug, although V. thap- 
siforme has the largest flower and therefore furnishes 
the showiest drug. — 1>. The illustration shows the 
corolla of V. thapsiforme laid open to show the 
stamens. The hairy 5-lobed calyx is generally ab- 
sent in the drug; the corolla is rotate or wheel- 
shaped, 2 to 4 cm. broad, bright golden yellow, with 
five roundish lobes,- and with five stamens inserted in 
the tube of the corolla, three of which are shorter and 
woolly and two longer and naked ; odor faintly aro- 
matic and taste sweetish mucilaginous. The corollas 
of the American variety, V. thapsus , are similar but 
smaller, being only about 15 mm. in diameter. — c. 
Trace of volatile oil, a fatty substance, mucilage, etc 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



435 



— U. Demulcent ; used mainly as a showily colored 
ingredient of pectoral teas. 

Flores Rhoeadis. 

N. Poppy Flowers. — o. The petals of Papaver 
Rhceas; Papaveracecz. — H. A European annual, but 
generally cultivated as a showy garden flower. — 
i>. The entire flower is shown in the drawing in 




natural size ; the petals are very thin and delicate, 
broadly oval, broader than long, dark-red, with a 
blue-black spot at the base where they are inserted 
on the receptacle (hidden in the flower by the 
stamens and pistil); odor faintly narcotic, taste bit- 
terish mucilaginous. In the drug the petals are much 
shrunken. — c. A deep-red coloring principle, rhce- 
adic acid, soluble in water and in dilute alcohol, etc. 
— U. Coloring agent ; used like Flores Malvae. 

For description of Flores Althaea?, Flores JIalva?, 
Carttaamns and Flores Cyani, see previous group. 



436 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

GROUP LV! I . 

STIGMAS. 

This group includes two drugs only ; these drugs 
consist of the styles and stigmas of the plants from 
which they are derived, the stigmas being the im- 
portant part in Crocus and the styles in Zea. The 
group is called "Sexual Organs" by some authors, but 
this is evidently wrong because only parts, and not 
even the essential parts, of only the female organs 
are present ; and moreover, there would be just as 
much reason to call FJores Verbasci "Corollas with 
Sexual Parts" as to call these drugs "Sexual parts". 
The group has also been called "Styles with Stig- 
mas", but as in the Latin titles for these drug3, as 
used in different works, the word "Stigmata" has so 
long been used, it is deemed inadvisable to change 
the custom, and this word is therefore preferred as 
the most appropriate title for this group of drugs. 
Separate stigmas, or three attached to a 
style, linear tubular, about 3 cm. long, 
deep orange-brown with reddish tinge . . . Crocus. 
Tufts of soft, silky, thread-like, yellowish 
hairs, about 15 cm. long; the ends of the 
tufts often dried or shriveled together 
and dark-brown zea. 

Crocus. 

N. Saffron, Spanish Saffron, True Saffron. — ©. The 
stigmas of Crocus sativus; Iridecz.—Ti. Cultivated in 
Asia Minor and in Southern Europe; most of the 
saffron sold in this country is from Spain and France. 
— 1>. The illustration shows the stigmas i a natural size, 
with a short piece of the style attached, but in the 
drug they are crumpled and shrunken ; also, on the left, 
the end enlarged and on the right a portion of the 
margin, very much magnified. To examine the drug, 
drop a few shreds on warm water, when it will regain 
its. fresh form. The stigmas are usually gathered so 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



437 




that a small portion of the style remains attached, 
and the three stigmas of a flower thereby remain 
attached as in the drawing; but occasionally they are 
pinched off shorter and 
are then single stigmas ; the 
drug should contain very 
little of the styles. The 
stigma is about 3 cm. long, 
flattish - tubular, almost 
thread-like where it joins 
the style, broader and split 
on the inner side of the free 
end, which is notched and 
shows papillose margin 
under a lens ; a good grade 
of saffron is of a rich orange- 
brown color with reddish 
tinge, somewhat deeper at 
the end and lighter toward 
the style, flexible and soft, 

not dry and hard, with a peculiar strong odor and 
an aromatic bitterish taste, and when chewed it 
stains the saliva a deep golden yellow. — c. Color- 
ing matter, gum, wax, etc. — u. Seldom employed 
otherwise than as a coloring agent. It is mildly dia- 
phoretic, slightly sedative and antispasmodic. Dose : 
0.3 to 2 grams, in infusion or tincture. 

The genuine drug is necessarily very high-priced as 
the stigmas from 130,000 flowers must be picked to 
make one kilo of the drug ; owing to this high price 
the drug is often adulterated, or cheaper substances 
bearing more or less resemblance to it are used as 
substitutes or admixtures. 

The ray -florets of Calendula, flowers of Carthamus, 
petals of pomegranate or other deep-red flowers cut 
in shreds, shreds of smoked or dried beef, and other 
similar substances are readily distinguished when the 
suspected drug is placed on warm water, which 






438 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

causes the different parts to spread out and show 
their shapes. 

The stigmas of some other varieties of Crocus are 
occasionally added; they are smaller, more flaring 
and more deeply notched at the upper ends, and 
have a yellowish color. 

A deceptive adulteration is the addition of true 
saffron from which the coloring matter has been ex- 
tracted by maceration; the exhausted stigmas have a 
pale and uniform yellowish color, and the whole drug 
has a less rich and bright appearance. 

It is sometimes loaded with mineral matters to in- 
crease the weight; when soaked in water this pul- 
verulent substance is deposited. 

Although saffron feels greasy to the touch, it does 
not contain fixed oil. It should not leave a greasy 
spot when pressed between two thicknesses of filter- 
paper. 

On drying saffron it should not lose more than 
fourteen per cent of moisture (showing absence of 
water fraudulently added) and when thus dried it 
should not leave more than 7.5 to eight per cent ash 
on burning (absence of foreign mineral substances). 

Saffron bleaches in the light and loses its odor 
when exposed to the air ; it should therefore be kept 
in well -closed opaque containers, or in a dark closet, 
in a cool place. 

Zea. 

N. Corn-silk. — o. The styles and stigmas of Zea 
Mays; Graminece. — h. Indigenous to the tropical 
parts of America, but now cultivated in all tropi- 
cal and sub-tropical parts of America and in some 
few places on the other continent. — ». Corn-silk con- 
sists of the threads projecting from the ears of corn, 
and is gathered when the corn is "shucked" or 
"husked"; the projecting ends of the styles are 
darker-colored, brownish to almost black, matted and 
tangled so that the threads are held together in tufts 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



439 



or bundles, the threads of which, where they were 

cohered by the 
"shucks" are 
pale yellowish 
or yellowish- 
green, about 15 
cm. long, fine 
silky hairy and 
delicately 
veined longi- 
tudinally; with- 
out odor, taste 
sweetish. — c. 
Sugar, muci- 
lage, etc. — u. 
Eeputed to be 
diuretic, neph- 
ritic and lithon- 
triptic. Dose: 
2 to 10 grams, 
in infusion or fluid extract. 

The figure on the left shows the "ear" of corn, a 
spadix surrounded by spathes that form the "shucks" 
when mature, and from the ends of which the long 
styles with their stigmas project; the right hand fig- 
ure shows the spadix with its female flowers and the 
styles and stigmas, while the two small figures show 
single female flowers, one enlarged; both, the larger 
figures are much smaller than in nature. 

FRUITS. 

This group includes not only whole fruits, but parts 
of fruits as well. In the trade the terms "fruits" and 
"seeds" have not been sufficiently accurately differ- 
entiated, as many drugs are called "seeds" which in 
reality are fruits, as for instance, "anise seed", 
"caraway seed", etc. In pharmacognosy such in- 
accuracies are not permissible, and the student 




440 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

should make an effort to learn as soon as possible to 
use scientific words only in their correct meaning. 

Strictly speaking, a fruit is the ripened ovary with 
all that it contains ; this may be thought of as a "true 
fruit" to distinguish it, for purposes of pharmacog- 
nosy, from "spurious fruits". It is common to call 
the matured ovary with all that is attached to it a 
fruit, although in some fruits of this kind the bulk of 
the fruit may thus be formed by a calyx tube that 
was adherent to the ovary, as in the apple, or of 
woody or leathery scales that were not part of the 
flower at all, as in cones and strobiles, or of the 
thickened end of the stem, or receptacle, as in the 
strawberry or 1ig; such a structure is a "spurious 
fruit' ' and the true fruits may be enclosed within, as 
in rose hips or figs, or they may be on the outside, as 
in the strawberry. 

Fruits are divided into three groups : Fleshy Fruits ', 
in which the seeds are inclosed in a more or less soft 
and juicy flesh ; Stone Fruits or Drupes, in which the 
outer part (under leaf surface) of the ovary becomes 
soft and fleshy and the inner part (upper leaf sur- 
face) of the ovary hardens into a stony shell which 
envelopes the seed, like a nut; and Dry Fruits, hav- 
ing no fleshy part at all, the entire ovary hardening 
into a stony, leathery, hard or tough structure which 
envelopes the seeds and in some kinds becomes per- 
manently united to the outer seed coat, while in 
other kinds the ovary opens or dehisces and allows 
the seeds to fall out. 

Fruits may be further divided into Simple Fruits, 
when a single pistil of a single flower develops into one 
fruit, and Compound Fruits (also called multiple or col- 
lective) when a large number of pistils of one flower 
produce a cluster of fruits, as in raspberry, or when a 
number of single flowers develop so that the fruits are 
united into apparently one fruit, as in mulberry. 

Some authors make a distinction between different 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 441 

kinds of compound fruits, thus : An Aggregate Fruit 
is one in which the individual fruits were all devel- 
oped from the carpels of the same flower, while a 
compound fruit resulting from a consolidation of the 
carpels of several or many flowers is called a Col- 
lective or Compound Fruit. 

Fruits which are not used to make medicinal prep- 
arations, or which are not recognized in some phar- 
macopoeia or other, but which are only used for mak- 
ing ' 'crushed fruits" or "fruit syrups" for the soda 
water fountain, or for similar purposes, as strawberry, 
blackberry, cherry, grape, pineapple, etc., are not 
drugs and therefore are not described in these notes. 

C Spurious 58. 

f Fresh < Fleshy 59. 

I Stone Fruits.... 60. 

f Spurious 61. 

Fruits. ...i D r ied or prepared. . J Dry 62. 

* 1 Fleshy 63. 

t Stone Fruits.... 64. 
t Parts of Fruits 65. 



GROUP LVfi M. 

FRESH SPURIOUS FRUITS. 

The fruits of this group are seldom employed, 
partly perhaps because one of them is not easily ob- 
tainable, and the preparations made from them are 
not often prescribed. 

The pome is a fruit in which the fleshy mass, which 
constitutes the principal thickness, is«formed by devel- 
opment of the calyx, as in the apple, pear and quince. 
Pitcher-shaped or ovate berry-like 

fruit, about 2 cm. long, bright glossy 

red, bristly hairy within Rosa Canlna. 

Globular or subglobular pome ; green, 

russet, yellow, red or varicolored ; 

acidulous sweet Mainm. 



442 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Rosa Canina. 

nr. Cynosbata, Rose Hips, Hips. — o. The spurious 
fruit of Rosa canina; Rosa- 
cea. — ii. Europe. — ». 
Pitcher-shaped or ovate re- 
ceptacle, about 2 cm. long, 
bright glossy red, fleshy, in- 
closing a number of brown dry 
fruits or akenes with bristly 
hairs; odor slight and taste sweetish acidulous. — 
C. Malic acid, citric acid, sugar, gum, etc. — *J. Mild re- 
frigerant; when used, the interior akenes and hairs 
are first removed. 

Malum. 

N. Fructus Maliy Pomurn, Apple. — o. The fruit of 





Pyrus Malus; Rosacea. — h. Cultivated in tem- 
perate zones. — ». The apple consists of five leathery 
carpels each enclosing several seeds, arranged in a 
stellate manner, forming the "core" of the apple, and 
surrounded by a large fleshy mass which is the de- 
veloped calyx ; there are many varieties of apple in 
cultivation, varying in color and flavor, green, russet, 
yellow, red, striated, varicolored, and from very 
sweet and mealy to sour and juicy ; for medicinal use 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 443 

only a sour and juicy apple is available. — c. Fruit 
acids (malic, etc.), sugar, etc. — u. The only medi- 
cinal use made of the apple is in preparing Ex- 
tractum ferri pomatum (from which in turn Tine- 
tura ferri pomata is made ; the word pomatus, a, um 
being a Latin adjective meaning "made from ap- 
ples"); cider made from sour apples is poured over 
iron filings in a stone jar and after maceration the 
liquid is decanted and evaporated to solid extract 
consistence. This preparation is tolerated by the 
most sensitive stomachs, and is a chalybeate prepara- 
tion that deserves more consideration at the hands of 
American physicians than it is receiving. 

GROUP LIX. 

FRESH FLESHY FRUITS. 

Fleshy fruits are also called berries; this group 
therefore comprises the berries which are used in the 
fresh condition. Berries proper are fleshy through- 
out; the lemon and orange are berries with leathery 
rind; a gourd is a berry with a hard rind, and a pome 
is a fleshy fruit resembling a berry, but formed 
mainly of a fleshy calyx, as the apple, etc. ; therefore 
the pome is really a spurious fruit, but because the 
apple would likely be looked for in this group it is 
also mentioned here. (See previous group.) 

The raspberry is usually called a berry, but is 
really an aggregate or multiple fruit, each little fruit 
being a drupe, similar in structure to a plum, al- 
though of course much smaller. See next group for 
description. 
Oval, bright yellow fruits, with 

very acid juice Limon. 

Globular or subglobular, orange- 
colored fruits, with acidulous 
Sweet juice Aurantii Fructns. 



444 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Globular green berry, about 2.5 cm. 
in diameter, with 4-lobed per- 
sistent calyx and about five seeds. Diospyros. 

Globular or subglobular pome; 
green, russet, yellow, red or vari- 
colored; acidulous sweet Malum. 

A collective or multiple fruit, com- 
posed of numerous small drupes ; 
red or black Rutras Idseus. 




Small round fruit resembling a 
berry, about 5 mm. in diameter, 
brownish-black with bluish 
bloom Juniperus. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 445 

Iiimon. 

N. Fructus Citri; Lemon. — o. The fresh fruit of 
Citrus Limonum; Rutacecs (Aurantiacecz) . — h. 
Cultivated in sub-tropical countries. — i>. The illus- 
tration shows the fruit in natural size ; oval, with 
nipple-shaped apex, g 1 a u dulous bright-yellow 
("lemon-yellow") rind; contains an agreeably acid 
juice. The section of the lemon closely resembles 
that of the orange (see next figure), but the rind is 
closely adherent so that it must be peeled off with a 
knife ; the rind is fragrant, bitter. The fruit must be 
fresh and sound. — c. The rind contains a volatile 
oil and the juice contains from 7 to 9% citric acid. 
— U. The juice, or the acid, is much used as an anti- 
scorbutic ; it is also used as a refrigerant drink in the 
form of lemonade. In the form of lemon juice it en- 
joys the popular reputation of curing and preventing 
"biliousness". 

The lime, the fruit of Citrus acris, is smaller than 
the lemon, with a thinner rind somewhat different in 
flavor from that of the lemon, pale yellowish-green, 
and with a very acid juice ; this variety of fruit is pre- 
ferred by many in the making of "mixed drinks". 

Fructus Aurantii. 

N. Orange. — o. The fresh fruit of Citrus Auran- 
tium; Rutacece (Aurantiacecz). — be. Cultivated in 
sub-tropical countries. — 1>. Similar in structure to 
the lemon, but globular or sub-giobular, without 
nipple-shaped apex, but with apex sometimes nodu- 
lated as in the "navel" oranges ; glandulous orange- 
colored rind. The illustration shows a section of an 
orange ; the rind of the orange separates readily from 
the edible portion within, which is in sections also 
easily separable from each other; the number of these 
sections is somewhat variable, as is also the number 
of seeds which vary in number from many, to none 
at all as in the "seedless" oranges. — c. Citric acid, 



446 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

sugar, etc. The rind yields a volatile oil. — c. The 




orange is an agreeably acidulous sweet fruit, and is 
much used as a refrigerant and refreshing diet. 



N. Persimmon. 



IMospyros. 

o. The fresh and unripe fruit of 
Diospyros Vir- 
giniana; Eben- 
acece. — h. In 
the rich bottom 
lands of the 
rivers of the 
United States. 
— B. Form and 
size are shown 
in the figures; 
green, smooth, with persistent 4-lobed calyx and about 




NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY, 447 

five smooth and dark-brown seeds ; odor pleasant 
fruit-like, taste intensely astringent. On ripening, 
the quantity of tannic acid decreases, and after frosts 
in autumn the astringent taste disappears altogether 
and the fruit becomes a pleasantly acidulous sweet 
article of diet. — c. The unripe fruit contains tannic 
acid. — u. Astringent. Dose : 1 to 5 grams. 

Malum, or apple, was described in the previous 
group, and the description of Rnbns idsens, or rasp- 
berry, will be found in the next group. 

Jimiperas, or Juniper Berries, are not really ber- 
ries nor are they fresh, but they have been prepared 
in a manner similar to that of drying grapes to make 
raisins, preserved in their own sugar by partially 
drying. Yet they look like fresh berries and some 
might look here for them and they are therefore 
mentioned, but the description is given in the proper 
place, under Group LXI. 

GROUP LX. 

FRESH STONE FRUITS. 

The only drug of this group is a collective or com- 
pound drupaceous fruit. 
Numerous red or black stone-fruits 

united into a small, round-conical 

cluster with hollow base; sweet, 

acidulous Rnbns Idsens. 

Rnbns Idsens. 

N. Raspberry. — o. The fruit of Rubus idczus; 
Rosacece. — h. Cultivated in Europe and America. 
— i>. The figure shows the fruit in natural size, whole 
and in longitudinal section; it consists of about 
thirty to forty diminutive drupes, each one with a 
withered style, as shown plainer in the two smaller 
drawings, which show the individual fruit enlarged, 
whole and in section. When plucked these small 



448 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 




fruits remain attached to each other, but separate 
from the white, 
pithy recep- 
tacle which re- 
mains on the 
stem; the clus- 
ter then forms 
a round-conical 
or hemispheri- 
cal, red, finely 
hairy "berry", of an agreeable odor and pleasant 
sweet acidulous taste. — c. Citric and malic acids, 
pectin, fruit sugar, coloring matter, etc. — u. For 
flavoring. 

The light-red fruit of Rubus strigosus (Wild Rasp- 
berry) and the purplish-black fruit of R. occidentalis 
(Black Raspberry) are often used instead of and for 
the same purposes as the above; a mixture of the red 
and black raspberries in about equal quantities 
makes an exceptionally rich-looking and well-fla- 
vored syrup. 

GROUP LXI. 

DRIED OR PREPARED SPURIOUS FRUITS. 

Of this group three drugs are dried, hops, long pep- 
per and chenopodium, and two are only partly dried, 
being prepared or preserved by their own inspissated 
juices, fig and juniper berries. The structure of each, 
and therefore the reasons why each must be consid- 
ered a spurious fruit, being peculiar, this will be ex- 
plained in connection with the individual drugs. 

Before proceeding to the consideration of these 
drugs it may be well to recall to memory the struct- 
ure of two kinds of spurious fruits, of the cone or 
strobile, and of the syconium. The cone is the pecul- 
iar compound fruit of the Conifer se, a class of plants 
to which the pines, cypresses, etc., belong; the 
female inflorescence is composed of an axis on which 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 449 

are arranged a number of scales, which are consid- 
ered to be open ovaries by some, and on the inner 
side of each scale there may be found one or two 
naked or uncovered ovules ; when this matures, it 
forms a scaly spurious fruit with one or two 
naked seeds on the inner side of each scale. The 
word strobile is used by some as synonymous with 
cone, by others is applied to cones which do not be- 
come woody, but remain flexible or soft. 

The syconium is a fleshy receptacle or summit of 
the plant axis, hollowed out and lined within by a 
multitude of minute flowers which, when mature, are 
often supposed to be the seeds, whereas they are the 
real fruits, and the fleshy receptacle which is used, 
as in the fig or in rose hips (already considered) is 
not a fruit, but a spurious fruit. 
Strobile with flexible scales ; yellow- 
ish-green Hiimulus. 

Small round fruit resembling a berry, 
about 5 mm. in diameter, brownish- 
black with bluish bloom Jnniperus. 

Compressed, of irregular shape, fleshy, 

yellowish-brown; very sweet Ficns. 

Cylindrical, about 4 to 5 cm. long, 5 
mm. thick, spirally nodulated, 

stalked, grayish-brown Piper ion gum. 

Dull greenish or greenish-brown fruit, 
about 1 mm. in diameter, depressed 
globular, obscurely lobed, contain- 
ing a glossy black seed, peculiar 
odor and pungent taste Ctaenopodinm. 

Hamulus. 

N. Hops. — o. The strobiles of Humulus Lupulus; 
Urticacece, — h. Cultivated. — i>. The illustration 
gives a correct idea of the shape and size of the drug. 
It is not correct, strictly speaking, to call this a stro- 



450 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

bile, because the ovules on the inner side of the bracts 
or scales of the catkin are not naked, but are contained 
in ovaries, which are in turn contained in a sheathing 
calyx; the achenes are therefore real fruits (ripened 
ovary with its contents), but as the bulk of the struct- 
ure is made up of scales, part of which are the devel- 
oped bracts and others the developed calyces, it looks 
like a strobile and it may be considered to be "a sort of 
membranaceous strobile". These strobiles or fruit- 
cones are about 3 cm. long, oval, yellowish-green, 
and consist of many ovate, membranous, glandulous 
scales attached to a thin and hairy undulated axis. 
The fruit is an achene, and it, as 
well as its enveloping calyx scale, 
should be thickly beset with mi- 
nute brownish-red glands. The 
odor of hops is strongly aromatic 
and the taste is bitter, aromatic 
and slightly astringent. — c. About 
1% volatile oil, 9 to 18% resin, 3 
to 4% tannin, etc. The bitter and 
aromatic properties of this drug 
reside in the minute glands al- 
ready referred to, which, when 
separately sold, constitute the 
drug which is commonly but improperly called "Lu- 
pulin". — u. Bitter tonic, stomachic and anodyne. 
Dose.: 1 to 5 grams, in fluid extract or in infusion. 
Also used locally to allay pain, in the form of dry and 
hot "hop pillows", or moist as fomentations or poul- 
tices. 

Hops should be whole and unbroken; the lupulin 
has probably been at least partially removed from 
broken or much crumbled drug. Brown, spotted or 
discolored hops, or hops which is seen under a lens 
to be poor in lupulin glands, should be rejected for 
medicinal purpo&rs. Old hops sometimes has a dis- 
agreeable odor, from valerianic acid formed by the 




NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



451 



oxidation of the volatile oil; the odor should be fresh, 
and strongly and pleasantly aromatic. 
Jnniperns. 
N. Juniper Berries. — o. The ripe fruit, a fleshy 




cone, oijuniperus communis ; Conifercz. — h. North- 
ern hemisphere. — ». The fertile catkin of common 
juniper consists of three fleshy coalescent scales, each 
with one naked ovule, which, when ripened at the 
end of the second year, form a fleshy cone or strobile 
resembling a berry. This fruit is therefore botani- 
cally a cone, a form of spurious fruit. The illustra- 
tions show a little twig with two fruits in natural size, 
a fruit enlarged, whole and in section, and seed in 
natural size and enlarged, and in transverse section 
to show the oil-vesicles on seeds. Juniper berries 
are globular or sub-globular, about 5 mm. in diameter, 
marked on top with three raphes meeting in the cen- 
ter, each triangular space between these being 
marked with a small wart ; externally covered with a 
bluish bloom, so that they look dark-blue, but where 
the bloom is rubbed off the color is brownish-black 
and glossy ; internally pithy-fleshy, brownish-green, 
containing three sub-triangular seeds, the seeds hav- 
ing oil-vesicles on their surfaces. Odor peculiar, 
aromatic and terebinthinate, and taste sweetish 
spicy. — c. From 1 to 2% volatile oil, about 30% 
sugar, some resin, etc.; they are partially dried, by 
which they are preserved by their own sugar in simi- 
lar manner as raisins and figs are preserved. — u. 



452 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Stimulant, diuretic and emmenagogue. Dose: 1 to 5 
grams in fluid extract, or a teaspoonful to table- 
spoonful of "roob juniperi ,, or syrup. 

Ficns. 

is. Fig. — o. The fruit, a syconium, of Ficus Carica; 




Urticacecz. — h. Cultivated in tropical and sub- 
tropical countries. — 1>. As found in the trade, figs 
are partly dried and then compressed into wooden 
boxes ; they are irregular in shape, mostly somewhat 
flattened, angular, yellowish-brown, fleshy, covered 
with an efflorescence of sugar, and contain many 
minute fruits which are commonly called "seeds"; 
odor fragrant, fruit-like, and taste very sweet and 
slightly mucilaginous. The illustrations show the 
hollow receptacle, whole and in longitudinal section, 
natural size ; it is pear-shaped, short-stalked, with 
the opening at apex protected by some scales ; in the 
section the part shaded in small dots is the recep- 
tacle and the interior shows the manner in which 
the many minute female flowers are arranged. The 
smaller drawings represent a few female flowers and 
one male flower, both much enlarged. The unripe 
fruit is green, changing on ripening to purplish-green 
or purplish-red to yellowish-red, according to variety. 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



453 



The male flowers are situated near the orifice while 
the interior contains only female flowers; fertilization 
depends largely on small insects which carry the 
pollen with them as they enter the receptacle on 
their way to gather nectar from the flowers within, 
and it is reported that the figs of California were 
much improved by the introduction of this insect 
from the fig-orchards of Smyrna in Asia Minor, from 
which we obtain the best figs of the trade. While the 
fruit is green it contains a milky juice, which disap- 
pears when the fruit ripens ; the matured fruit is up to 
8 cm. long and to 5 cm. thick at the widest part, and 
the compressed commercial fruit resumes its natural 
shape and size on soaking in water. — c. About 62% 
of sugar, some gum, etc. — u. Demulcent and laxa- 
tive. Roasted figs are some- 
times applied to abscesses of 
the gums as poultice. 

Piper liongimi. 

ar. Long Pepper. — o. The 
fully grown but still immature 
fruits coalesced with all 
the other structures of the 
spike or inflorescence of Cha- 
vica officinarum; Piperacecz. 
— H. East Indian and Philip- 
pine Islands. — ». The rhachis, 
bracts and ovaries all develop 
and enlarge on fertilization 
and become consolidated into 
a cylindrical mass which is 
about 3.5 to 5 cm. long and 
about 5 mm. thick, with a 
stalk about 1 cm. long, and 
with the fruits arranged spi- 
rally around the rhachis, giv- 
ing the whole a nodulated appearance; blackish-gray, 




454 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

dusty; odor and taste like those of black pepper. 
One of the drawings shows the tip (about one-fourth 
of total length) of the fresh female spike, a being 
the berries and b the bracts which accompany the 
ovaries and which develop as the fruit develops. 
The other drawing shows a section of the cylinder, 
with about 7 to 8 berries arranged around the rhachis 
of the spike. Both drawings are very much en- 
larged. All of these structures are present in the 
drug, but when dried and partially disfigured by at- 
trition (to which the dusty appearance of the drug is 
due) cannot be seen as distinctly in the drug as in the 
fresh spike or in the drawing. — c. Like those of 
black pepper; piperin, fatty oil, resin, volatile oil, 
etc. — it, Condiment, mainly; stimulant carminative. 
Dose: 0.3 to 1.5 grams. 

Chenopodiiim. 

N. Chenopodiura, Wormseed, American Worm- 
seed. — o.The fruit of 
Chenopodiuni ambro- 
sioides, var. anthel- 
minticum; Chenopo- 
diacecz. — h. Subtropi- 
cal America, but naturalized and a common weed in 
United States. — ». Small, depressed-globular, 
slightly lobed or ridged fruits, about 1 mm. in di- 
ameter, yellowish-gray to greenish-brown, very brittle 
and fragile; the minute seed is flattish, circular, 
glossy black, with the embryo curved around the 
edges of the seed; the fruit is a utricle, but it is so 
closely surrounded by and united with the five seg- 
ments of the calyx which form the bulk of the 
fruit, that it is more proper to consider this to be a 
spurious fruit. The drawings show a section of a 
seed, and the whole fruit, both much enlarged; the 
lobing is, however, often much less prominently 
marked. Odor offensively aromatic, peculiar, and 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 455 

taste bitterish pungent. — c. Volatile oil. — u. An- 
thelmintic. Dose : 1 to 2 grams. 



GROUP LXI I . 

DRY FRUITS. 

There is a great diversity of forms of fruits of this 
kind and works on botany give separate and distinc- 
tive names to quite a number of varieties of these 
fruits. The main characteristic of fruits of this group 
is, that the ovary develops into a dry, membranous, 
or even stony or hard structure in which the seed or 
seeds are contained ; rarely does any part of such 
fruits remain fleshy, when fully ripe. 

It will facilitate the study of this group of drugs to 
review briefly the characteristics of important forms, 
although the different authors on pharmacognosy lay 
no particular stress on the correct botanical defini- 
tions of the names of fruits which they employ, so 
that what one author calls a carpel another may call a 
follicle, and still another may call it a capsule. 

A broad distinction may be based on the dehis- 
cence. Some dry fruits dehisce or open when ripe ; 
these usually contain several or many seeds and some 
authors call all such dehiscing dry fruits "pods" or 
"capsules". Other dry fruits are indehiscent, that 
is, they do not open, but the ovary forms an envelope 
for the seed which remains closed, and which is often 
so seed-like in appearance that such fruits may be 
mistaken for naked seeds. In fact, in the ordinary 
trade nomenclature fruits of this kind are usually 
spoken of as "seeds", as for instance "hemp seed", 
"anise seed", etc. Indehiscent dry fruits are usually 
one-seeded. 

The word "carpel" is used by many authors to 
designate certain dry fruits; the word, however, does 
not properly designate a fruit, for it means a simple 
pistil; each component leaf or pistil of a compound 



456 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

pistil is also a carpel ; a flower may contain one or 
several or many separate or simple carpels. When a 
simple carpel matures into a fruit, or when each com- 
ponent carpel of what in the flower appeared to be a 
compound pistil matures into a separate fruit, such 
fruits may be akenes, follicles, legumes, pods, utri- 
cles, etc., but it is customary also to refer to such 
fruits as ' 'carpels", especially when it is a little diffi- 
cult to determine just what else to call them. 

For convenience we will group dry fruits as dehis- 
cent and indehiscent, and we will call the dehiscent 
fruits "pods" or "capsules" and will divide the inde- 
hiscent fruits into "akenes" and "cremocarps". 
These names and a few other names of fruits we will 
now briefly define. 

The pod is any dry dehiscent fruit ; it may be the 
product of a simple pistil, and it is then called a 
follicle if the carpel opens or dehisces on one side 
only, as in the fruit of star anise, or a legume or true 
pod when it opens on both sides, as in the pea or 
bean ; or it may be the product of a compound pistil, 
when it is properly called a capsule, as in poppy. 

Some few fruits have the structure of dehiscing 
fruits or pods, yet do not dehisce at maturity, as, for 
instance, the pods of purging cassia and of St. John's 
bread ; yet they must be placed among the pods, or 
dehiscing fruits, because they belong there on ac- 
count of their structure. It must be borne in mind, 
however, that some such fruits, if left ungathered, 
would probably dry out and decay so that dehiscence 
would take place at the beginning of the following 
season ; in other words, there are many pods that re- 
main unopened through the winter, but open and 
drop their seeds early next spring when it is the 
proper time to sow them. Such may possibly be the 
case also with these two "indehiscent pods". 

The akene is a small, dry, indehiscent, one-seeded 
fruit ; the fruits of composite flowers are also called 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



457 



akenes ; the utricle is an akene in which the ovary 
forms a thin, bladdery sac surrounding the seed, 
which may either break open irregularly or can be 
broken and removed by rubbing; the caryopsis or 
grain is an akene in which the ovary forms a thin 
membranaceous coating which is intimately united 
with the seed, appearing therefore to be merely a 
seed-coat, as in wheat, corn, etc. ; in a nut the ovary 
is changed to a hard, stony shell (made up of stone- 
cells) as in the hazel nut; cremocarp is the name 
given to the fruit of the Umbelliferce or umbellifer- 
ous plants, in which two carpels are intimately at- 
tached in the blossom, both developing into akenes, 
which sometimes separate when ripe, as in fennel 
and caraway, and sometimes remain permanently at- 
tached to each other as in anise and coriander. 
We will consider the cremocarps (also called 



BACK. 



sc hiz o carps by some 
authors) a little more fully. 
In the illustrations e shows 
the mature fruit of fennel, 
the two carpels or akenes 
still attached to each other, 
and c shows the same en- 
larged; in b the fruits are 
seen separated but held 
together by the two-pronged 
prolongation of the recep- 
tacle, which is very brittle and easily broken so that 
the fruits are then entirely separated; d is a longi- 
tudinal section, showing the embryo imbedded in the 
upper part of the albumen of the seed ; a is a trans- 
verse section of the fruit, showing the wall formed by 
the ovary and the albumen of the seed within (3), 
while 1 points out an oil-duct, or oil-tube (Latin : 
vitta, pi., vittcz) which runs the length of the fruit, 
and 2 indicates a fibrovascular bundle ; the fibrovas- 
cular bundles are at the angles, and projecting out- 




458 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

wardly where they are situated there are more or less 
distinctly marked ridges, giving characteristic ap- 
pearances to the cross-sections and enabling us to 
recognize the various fruits of this kind thereby ; be- 
tween the fibrovascular bundles are oil-ducts, vary- 
ing in number in different kinds of cremocarps, but 
fairly uniform in number in cremocarps of the same 
kind. With this explanation the drawings of the 
various cremocarps become self-explanatory. To ex- 
amine these fruits, soak in water and cut transversely 
about the middle of the fruit; then examine the 
cut ends ; or a thin section may be cut from one of 
these pieces and cleared with liquor potassce, and 
then examined under the microscope. 

The taste and odor of most of the cremocarps are 
very characteristic. 

Capsules or Pods : 
Small, obtusely triangular, 3- 
celled capsules, 10 to 15 mm. 
long; central placenta with 
many brown seeds; pale buff . Cardamomnm. 
Eight reddish-brown woody 
follicles, arranged star-shaped; 
often some of the carpels are 

aborted ; odor anise-like iiiicium. 

Large, round or elongated, pale 
brownish-yellow capsules, 1- 
celled, with many parietal pla- 
centas and containing many 

white or bluish seeds Papaver. 

Fleshy, linear, dark-brown pod, 
up to 25 cm. long by 8 mm. 

thick ; very fragrant Vanilla. 

Hard, rigid, cylindrical, dark- 
brown pod, up to 60 cm. long 

by 2.5 cm. thick Cassia Fistula. 

Flat, broad, glossy brownish 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 459 

pod, about 10 to 20 cm. long, 
with up to 12 seeds; with 
sweetish pulp Ceratonia. 

From 2 to 5 small, somewhat 
thick and fleshy pods attached 
to a short stalk ; each about 5 
mm. long and containing 1 or 

2 glossy black seeds Xaiuboxyti Frnctns. 

Akenes: 

Obovate-oblong, brownish-gray, 
somewhat curved akene, about 
6 mm. long Lappa? Frnctns. 

Sub-globular, brownish or green- 
ish-gray akene, about 4mm. in 
diameter, with a single oily 
seed Cannabis Frnctns. 

Elliptic grain, about 7 to 9 mm. 
long, enclosed in straw-col- 
ored paleae; taste farinaceous. Hordei Frnctns. 

Like preceding in appearance, 
but with sweet taste m altnm. 

Very small sub-globular utricle, 
about 2 mm. in diameter; dull 
greenish-brownish color; con- 
tains shining black seed Cneiiopoctiiim. 

Elliptic, flattened, glossy pale- 
yellowish grain, about 4 mm. 

long Pnalaridis Fructns. 

Cremocarps; usually remaining united; with oil- 
tubes: 

Oval ; each fruit with 5 obscure 
ridges and about 16 oil-tubes ; 
grayish, finely hairy Anisnm. 

Globular, hollow, some of the 
ridges wavy ; each fruit with 2 
oil-tubes on inner face; brown- 
ish-yellow, smooth Coriandrnm. 



460 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Elongated, compressed from 

sides ; each fruit with 5 ridges 

and 6 oil-tubes; yellowish- 
brown ; rough hairy Cumini Fructns. 

Elongated, nearly cylindrical, 

with 5-toothed calyx, ridges 

not prominent; each fruit with 

6 oil-tubes ; brownish-green . . Pneilancirii Fructns. 

Often remaining united ; without oil-tubes: 
Oval, compressed from sides; 

each fruit with 5 nodulated 

ridges and 2 deep lateral 

grooves ; no oil-tubes; albumen 

crescent-shaped in transverse 

section ; brownish-green Coninm. 

Usually separating; with oil-tubes: 
Elongated, compressed from 

sides; each fruit with 5 ob- 
scure ridges and 6 oil-tubes; 

usually curved ; brown Carum, 

Elongated, nearly cylindrical; 

each fruit with 5 angular 

ridges and 6 oil-tubes; smooth; 

yellowish-brown Foenicnlum. 

Eoundish-ovate, compressed 

from sides ; each fruit with 5 

obscure ridges and 6 oil-tubes ; 

grayish-green Petrosclini Fructns. 

Oval, compressed from back; 

each fruit with 3 sharp-keeled 

dorsal ridges and 2 long lat- 
eral ridges forming thin broad 

margins; 6 oil-tubes; brown. .AnetniFructus. 
Very small, roundish-ovate, 

compressed from sides, 

smooth; each fruit with 5 

angular ridges and 12 to 15 

oil-tubes ; brown Apii Fructns. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 461 

Elliptic, compressed from back ; 
each fruit with 5 prominent 
ridges, the lateral ones larger, 
and 6 oil-tubes; yellowish- 
brown Levistiei Frnotus. 

Elliptic, compressed from back ; 
each fruit with 3 prominent 
dorsal ridges and 2 long, flat, 
lateral, ridges; numerous oil- 
tubes; yellow Angelica? Frncfns. 

Oval, compressed from back; 
each fruit with 7 ridges, 2 
lateral and 2 dorsal spinous, 
and 3 dorsal short-hairy ; 6 oil- 
tubes; grayish-brown I>auci Fractus. 

Cardamomnm. 

W. Cardamom. — o! The fruit of Eleitaria repens; 




Scitaminece. — h. Malabar and India. — d. Ovoid or 
oblong 3-celled capsules, obtusely triangular, rounded 



462 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

at base and beaked at apex, about 1 to 2 cm. long, 
with central placenta and numerous brown, aromatic 
seeds and a thin, tough, leathery, buff-colored, taste- 
less shell. — c. The seeds contain about 4 to 5% of an 
aromatic volatile oil. — u. As a spice, carminative 
and stomachic; mainly as a flavoring agent and cor- 
rective. Dose : About 1 gram. 

Malabar cardamom and Aleppy cardamom are the 
only varieties generally employed in the United 
States. There are several other varieties, and the 
seeds may be derived partly from some of these ; for 
instance, Madras cardamom, the round cardamom, 
and the Ceylon cardamom. 

All kinds of cardamoms are designated according 
to size by the terms, shorts, short-longs or mediums, 
and longs. Shorts are from 10 to 15 mm. long; 
mediums from 15 to 25 mm. long, and longs from 2.5 
to 5 cm. long. Malabar cardamoms are best. They 
are either shorts or short-longs, bleached or un- 
bleached; the choicest are short, plump, heavy, aud 
have a pale straw color without any green tint, and 
they yield from | to -f of their weight of seeds. 

Madras cardamoms are pale and thin, not plump, 
short-longs. 

Aleppy cardamoms are shorts, of a somewhat green- 
ish tint, and are of inferior quality. 

Ceylon cardamoms are longs, dark grayish-brown, 
and differ in odor and taste from the above 
kinds. 

In the illustrations a and b are Malabar shorts; c, 
Malabar mediums, and d Malabar longs; e is a sec- 
tion of Malabar cardamom, slightly enlarged ; f is 
round cardamom, from Java, and g is a section of the 
same, slightly enlarged ; h shows Ceylon longs; ex- 
cept as otherwise noted, all are natural size. Carda- 
mom seeds come into the trade as such, and are 
therefore described in their proper place, under 
Group LXVI. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 463 

Illicinm. 

If. Fructus Anisi Stellati, Star Anise. — o. The fruit 
of Illicium verum (I. anisatum); Magnoliacecz. — 



H. China, Siaru, Anain. — ©.A multiple fruit con- 
sisting of eight reddish-brown, woody follicles, ar- 
ranged in a star-shaped or radiate whorl around a 
short central receptacle or axis which is a continua- 
tion of the stalk ; often the follicles are unevenly- 
developed, or some are aborted, and generally the 
drug is much broken ; each follicle is from 10 to 15 
mm. long, boat-shaped, somewhat wrinkled, with 
straight point or beak, open at the upper suture, ex- 
posing the flat oval, glossy brown seed; odor like that 
of anise, taste sweetish aromatic. In the illustrations 
are shown two large, well-developed fruits, one from 
the upper and the other from the lower side, two im- 
perfectly and irregularly developed fruits, one follicle 
and one seed. — c. The follicles yield upwards of 5% 
and the seeds about 2% of a volatile oil that is practi- 



464 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



cally identical with that of anise; the total yield of the 
fruit is about 4 to 44% of this oil; there is also a fixed 
oil, etc. — u. Similar to those of anise; stimulant, 
carminative and stomachic, but mainly as a flavor ; it 
is also an ingredient of many of the ''pectoral teas". 
Dose : 0.5 to 2 grams. 

Adulteration. — The fruits of lllicium religiosum, 
shown in these illustrations, are sometimes found 
mixed with the fruit of star anise, and in such case 
they were probably added as an adulteration. The 
follicles of this fruit are rougher, more wrinkled and 
shrivelled, and have a beak or point that is bent up-* 

wards. The odor is 
faintly aromatic, possi- 
bly from having been in 
contact with the star 
anise, somewhat clove- 
like, and the taste is dis- 
agreeable, somewhat 
saline, faintly reminding 
of cardamom. The fruits 
are smaller than those of 
star anise and in bulk 
have the appearance of 
being lighter in color, 
the follicles being more 
opened, so that the 
lighter-colored interior is 
more exposed. This 
v fruit is also called shi- 

kimi fruit, and it is said to be poisonous ; but if so, it 
cannot be very poisonous because no serious effects 
seem to have followed its admixture to star anise; the 
author once found a lot in trade which consisted of at 
least i of its weight of s/iikimi, and he chewed freely 
of this spurious star anise, without any effects what- 
ever, and the lot was disposed of most likely in small 
lots by the wholesaler from whom a small quantity 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



465 



was obtained by the writer, and no bad effects were 
noted by anyone. 

Papaver. 
N. Poppy, Poppy Heads. — o. The fruit of Papaver 
somniferum; Papaveracece; gathered before they are 




quite ripe. — h. Asia Minor and India ; cultivated. 
— B. There are capsules of various shapes, from 
elongated, to round and compressed or flat, but the 



466 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

illustrations give a good idea of the average size and 
shape ; the capsule is pale-brown or buff-colored ex- 
ternally, with a large persistent stigma, under the 
lobes of which are small valves which open at the 
time of dehiscence and allow the seeds to fall out 
the walls of the capsule are brittle, and many of the 
capsules are broken in the drug; one-celled, but with 
many (8-15) parietal placentas to which numerous 
seeds are attached ; most seeds are removed from the 
drug, but enough are always present to determine the 
kind ; there are two varieties of poppy, the so-called 
1 'black" which has bluish seeds and the "white" 
which has white seeds. It is usually stated that the 
white is to be preferred, but more probably there is 
no difference between the two kinds. The drug has 
no odor, but a somewhat bitter taste. — c. As these 
capsules, when fresh, furnish an exudation which 
forms opium, and as this milky juice is retained in 
the unincised capsules that are gathered for this drug, 
its constituents are the same as those of opium (which 
see) but in very variable and uncertain proportions. 
— U. Slightly anodyne and sedative ; mainly used in 
decoction or syrup as a cough medicine. Dose: 
0.5 to 2 grams. 

Vanilla. 

N. Vanilla. — o. The fruit, a fleshy pod, of Vanilla 
planifolia; Orchidecz; gathered before it is quite ripe. 
— H.Mexico; cultivated in other tropical countries. 
— D. The fruit of Vanilla is a dark-brown, flexible 
pod, from 15 to 25 cm. in length, and from 4 to 8 mm. 
in thickness, linear, obtusely triangular, hooked at 
the base and obliquely narrowed at the apex; the 
walls of the pod are soft-leathery, and the interior is 
filled with a blackish-brown, oily pulp in which 
numerous minute black seeds are imbedded; odor and 
taste peculiarly aromatic and fragrant. The illustra- 
tions show a whole pod, cut in halves to allow of illus- 
tration in natural size, and i section enlarged, which 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



467 



may be prepared by first cutting it, then extracting 
the oil, etc., with ether, then soaking in dilute 




alcohol, then in water, to remove 
the color, and finally clearing, as 
usual. The pod is one-celled, but 
has several placentas which bear 
the numerous seeds. — c. About 
2% of vanillin, some of which 
sometimes forms a crystalline 
efflorescence on the outer surface 
of the drug; some fixed oil, sugar, 
etc. — u. For flavoring. 

When ripe, the pod opens along 
the two darker-colored lines seen 
in the section; but it is gathered 
while still unripe and is treated 
by a process of "sweating" or 
fermentation, by which its aroma 
is fully developed and dehiscence 
prevented. 

Mexican vanilla is the best 
kind; it sometimes is more than 
25 cm. long. It comes into trade 
tied into bundles containing about 
50 fruits each; these bundles are 
then wrapped in tin-foil and sev- 
eral of them are packed in a tin box. 
Bourbon vanilla is shorter, lighter-colored, and its 



468 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



odor resembles somewhat that of tonka bean. Ven- 
ezuelan, Brazilian and other varieties of vanilla are 
not usually found in the trade. 

Vanilla is valued to a great extent by length ; it is 
assorted according to length, and the longer the bean 
the higher the price of any given weight of the drug. 

Cassia Fistula. 

N. Purging Cassia. — o. The pod of Cassia Fistula; 
Leguminoscz. — h. West Indies. — i>. An indehis- 
cent, hard, rigid, cylindrical pod 
with two rhaphes on opposite 
sides down the length of the 
fruit; up to 60 cm. long and 2 to 
3 cm. in diameter, of a rich dark- 
brown color, and containing in 
separate transverse cells from 25 
to 100 ovate, flattish, glossy red- 
dish-brown seeds imbedded in a 
thick, tough, blackish-brown, 
sweet pulp which has the odor of 
prunes. The illustration shows a 
small end of one of the fruits in 
natural size. — c. Good purging 
cassia contains about £ of its 
weight of pulp, which is the only 
valuable portion ; this pulp con- 
tains about 60% of sugar, some 
mucilage, pectin, etc. — u. Mild 
laxative, mainly employed in 
combination, as in confection of 
senna. Dose: As a laxative, 5 to 
10 grams ; as a purgative, 25 to 50 
grams. 
Ceratonia. 
N. Siliqua Dulcis; St. John's Bread. — o. The pod 
of Ceratonia Siliqua; Leguminoscz. — h. Southern 
Europe and the Orient. — ». An indehiscent, flat, 
broad, glossy brownish pod, about 10 to 20 cm. long, 2 to 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



469 



3 cm. broad and 3 to 8 mm. thick, thicker at the edges 
than in the center, grooved 
at the edges; the external 
fruit-coat is leathery; the 
interior contains from 3 up 
to 12 or 13 transverse cells, 
each lined with a papery 
membrane and containing a 
flattish oval, glossy brown 
and very hard seed in a pulp, 
which in the dry condition, 
as in the drug, is tough and 
alveolar, and which has an 





agreeably pleasant odor and taste. — c. 40 to 50% of 



470 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 




sugar, some mucilage, pectin, etc. — u. Slightly laxative 
and demulcent; occasionally used in pectoral teas, 
etc. ; sometimes imported as food for cattle, but in the 
drug-stores used mainly as "laggniappe". 

Xanthoxyli Fructtis. 

N. Prickly Ash Fruit, Prickly Ash Berries. — o. The 

fruits of Xanthoxy- 
lum Americanum {X. 
fraxineurri) and X. 
Cla va-Hercu lis ( X . 
Carolinianuiri) ; Rut- 
acece. — h. United 
States. — ». Some- 
what thick and fleshy 
pods, some with, most 
without stalks, each 
about 4 to 5 mm. 
long, yellowish-brown, somewhat wrinkled and con- 
taining 1, more rarely 2, glossy black seeds. The 
pods of X. car. grow in clusters of 2 or 3, those of 
X.fr. in clusters of 3 to 5, but they rarely remain at- 
tached to each other in the drug, but are usually 
broken apart and partly opened from the separation 
of the two valves, and ofteu empty and mixed with 
the separated seeds. The seeds are subglobular when 
single, compressed and flattened when two in a pod, 
wrinkled, glossy black, and contain a white albumen 
and embryo. The drawings show three pods much 
enlarged, and several pods and a seed in natural 
size. Odor aromatic, taste pungent. — c. Volatile 
oil, resin, etc. — u. Nervine tonic, arterial stimulant, 
sialagogue, diaphoretic and alterative. Dose : 0.5 to 
2 grams. 

JLappje Functus. 

N. Burdock Fruit, Burdock Seed. — o. The fruit 
(akene) of Lappa officinalis; Composite?. — h. Europe 
and America. — ».The akenes, shown in the drawings 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



471 





in natural size and enlarged, are obovate-oblong, flat- 
tened, transversely wrinkled, sometimes 
somewhat curved, about 6 mm. long, to 3 
mm. wide, brownish-gray, mottled ; pappus 
stiff hairy-bristly, but usually wanting in 
the drug. No odor, taste bitter. — c. Fixed 
oil, resin, some bitter principle, etc. — u. 
Bitter tonic; alterative in psoriasis, etc. 

Dose : 1 to 4 grams, best in fluid extract. 

Cannabis Frnctns. 

N. Hemp Seed. — o. The fruit (akene) of Cannabis 
sativa; Urticacece. — h. In- 
digenous to Asia, but culti- 
vated everywhere; see also 
Group IX. — D.The illustra- 
tion shows the fruit nat- 
ural size, and whole and in longitudinal and trans- 
verse sections, all much enlarged. An oval or sub- 
globular akene, about 4 mm. long by 2 mm. broad, 
the fruit-shell is greenish or grayish-brown exter- 
nally, with a whitish keel on the margin, netted- 
veined, smooth, internally dark olive-green or brown, 
brittle, one-celled, two-valved, but not dehiscent, 
and contains one white, oily seed consisting of 
a curved embryo without albumen ; no odor, taste 
nutty, sweet. — c. About 30% fixed oil, albuminoids, 
sugar, etc. — u. Sometimes used as a demulcent in 
the form of an emulsion, but most 
frequently used for bird-food. 

Hordei Frnctns. 

N. Barley. — o. The fruit (cary- 
opsis or grain) of Hordeum dis- 
II A \\ ' \ m tichum; Graminece. — h. Culti- 
I ii I'M \\ ! :'/ vated. — ». The drawing shows 
barley in natural size and en- 
larged, with the palese enclosing 
the fruit proper and closely united therewith. The 




472 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

fruit is from 7 to 9 mm. long, 2 to 3 mm. broad, taper- 
ing towards the ends, with a groove along the front, 
smooth on the back, straw-colored on account of the 
adhering paleae, brownish when the latter are re- 
moved; no odor, taste mealy. — c. About 60 to 70% 
starch, gluten, sugar, fat, etc. — u. Food. 
Maltnm. 
Maltum Hordei, or malt, is made by causing bar- 
ley to germinate until the sprout reaches about the 
length of the fruit, when further germination is 
stopped by quickly raising the temperature and dry- 
ing the fruit; barley loses about 10 to 20% of its 
weight when changed to malt, and much of the 
starch is changed to dextrin, sugar, etc. 

For Pearl Barley see Group LXX. 

Cbenopodiiim, or American Wormseed, is some- 
times considered to be a dry fruit. It is really a 
utricle, but is enclosed in the calyx, which consti- 
tutes the bulk of the fruit, for which reason it has 
been described in Group LXI, Spurious Fruits. 

Pbalariclis Frnetus. 

m. Semen Canariense y or Canary Seed. ■ — o. The 
fruit (caryopsis or grain) of Phalaris Can- 
ariensis; Graminecz. — h. Indigenous to 
the Canary Islands, but also cultivated 
elsewhere. — ». The drawings show Can- 
ary Seed in natural size and enlarged. An 
elliptic fruit, about 4 mm. long and 1$ mm. 
broad, flattish, enclosed in two hard paleae 
which are not united with the fruit ; the 
paleae are keeled, glossy yellowish-gray and finely 
hairy, and the enclosed fruit is smooth, brownish, 
with a small embryo and a mealy albumen. — u. One 
of the usual constituents of "mixed bird seeds". 
Anisi Friictus. 
N. Anisum, Anise. — o. The fruit of Pimpinella 
Anisum; Umbellifercz \ — h. Indigenous in the 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



473 



Orient, but also cultivated in Europe. — d. Oval, 
about 2 to 3 mm. long, grayish or grayish-green, 




finely hairy ; the two mericarps usually remain ad- 
herent; each fruit has 5 obscure ridges and about 16 
(but sometimes up to 30 or more) oil-tubes; odor pecul- 
iar, aromatic, taste spicy, sweet. •— c. About 1.5 to 
3% volatile oil, some fixed oil, sugar, etc. — u. Car- 
minative, stimulant; mainly used for flavoring. 
Dose: 0.5 to 1 gram. 

Anise should be plump and sound, and free from 
dirt and small stones, with which it is often mixed. 
It is said to be sometimes mixed with Conium fruit 
which it somewhat resembles, but the writer has 
never seen any such admixture. 

Corianciri Fractns. 
jr. Coriandrum, Coriander. — o. The fruit of Cori- 
andrum sativum; Umbellifercz. — h. Asia and 

Europe ; cultivated. 
— ». Globular, about 
3 to 4 mm. in diam- 
eter, light-brown; the 
two mericarps remain 
adherent, each fruit 
having 5 wavy and 4 straight ridges on the back; 
face concave, thus making the whole fruit hollow ; 
each fruit has 2 oil-tubes on the face; the fresh fruit 
has a nauseous odor, reminding of bed-bugs, but the 
dried fruit is agreeably aromatic, taste spicy. — c 
About 0.5% volatile oil, some fixed oil, etc. — u. Car- 
minative, stimulant; mainly used for flavoring. 
Pose: 0.5 to 2 grams. 





474 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Cumini Fructus. 

ar. Cuminum, Cumin. — o. The fruit of Cuminum 
Cyminum; Umbellifercz. — h. Northeastern Africa. 
— B. Oblong or elongated, 
compressed from the sides, 
about 4 mm. long, yellow- 
ish-brown; the two meri- 
carps remain adherent, 
each fruit has 3 promi- 
nent ridges which are nar- 
row and beset with fine hairs, and 4 broad grooves 
down the middle of each of which there is a slight 
ridge with short, soft spines; each mericarp has 6 oil- 
tubes, 4 lying under the grooves and 2 on the face; 
odor and taste peculiar, resembling caraway. — c. 
Volatile oil, the yield of which is variously stated, 
from 0.25 to 3% (probably because the yield is very 
variable), some fixed oil, resin, etc. — u. Carmin- 
ative, stimulant. Dose : 0.5 to 2 grams. 
Pliellanclrii Frcctiis. 
K. Phellandrium, Water-Fennel, 5-leaved Water 
Hemlock. — o. The fruit of Oenanthe Phellandrium ; 
Umbellifercz. — h. Europe 
and Northern Asia. — 1>. 
Oblong or elongated, nearly 
cylindrical, but tapering 
toward upper end, about 4 
mm. long, smooth, brown 
or blackish-brown; the two 
mericarps remain adherent ; 
each fruit has 5 obtuse 
ridges, 4 narrow grooves and 6 oil-tubes; taste and 
odor disagreeably aromatic. — c. A volatile alkaloid 
resembling coniine (?), about 1% volatile oil, some 
fixed oil, resin, etc. — u. Carminative, stimulant, 
diaphoretic, diuretic, and when fresh probably some- 
what narcotic. Dose: About 0.5 gram, or up to 2 
grams during 24 hours. 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY, 475 

Conii Frnctus. 
N. Conium, Hemlock Fruit. — o. The full-grown 
but unripe fruits of Conium maculatum; Umbelliferce. 




— H. Europe and Asia; naturalized in North America. 

— ». Oval, compressed from sides, about 3 mm. long, 
grayish to brownish-green (brown or brownish-black 
when ripe) ; if gathered when ripe or nearly ripe the 
two mericarps generally separate, but if gathered 
while still green, the mericarps usually remain ad- 
herent, although they are deeply notched along the 
sides ; each fruit has rive undulated ridges, which are 
somewhat lighter-colored than the grooves; no oil- 
tubes; on transverse section the seed (albumen) ap- 
pears crescent-shaped, on account of being notched or 
grooved on the face side; little odor or taste, but the 
odor becomes offensively disagreeable on the addition 
of solution of potassa. — c. A volatile alkaloid, 
coniine, traces of volatile oil, some fixed oil, etc. 

— U. Narcotic, hypnotic, sedative. Dose: 0.1 to 0.3 
gram. 

In over-doses conium is a narcotic poison ; the anti- 
dotal treatment consists in the use of the stomach 
pump or emetics, the internal use of stimulants and 
astringents, and the external use of friction, flagella- 
tion, etc. 

Cari Fractus. 

N. Carum > Caraway. — o. The fruits of Carum 



476 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY 




Carvi (Carui) ; Umbellifercz. — h. Europe and North- 
ern Asia; wild and 
cultivated. — ©.Elon- 
gated or oblong, com- 
pressed from sides, 
about 3 to 4 mm. long, 
smooth, brown; the 
two mericarps usually 
separate when ripe, 
and each of the fruits then curves towards the face at 
the top and base ; each fruit has 5 obscure ridges, or 
rather angles, and 6 oil-tubes; odor pleasantly aro- 
matic and taste sweetish spicy. — c. About 4 to 6% 
volatile oil, some fixed oil, resin, etc. — u. Carmin- 
ative, stimulant, stomachic ; mainly used for flavor- 
ing. Dose : 1 to 2 grams. 

Foeniculi Friictus. 

N. Fceniculum, Fennel. — o. The fruits of Fcenicu- 
lum vulgare; Umbellifercz. — h. Western Asia and 
Europe. — i>. Elongated or 
oblong, nearly cylindrical, 
about 4 to 5 mm. long, smooth, 
brown; the two mericarps 
readily separate when ripe, 
but the separated fruits rarely 
curve inwards ; each fruit has 
a broad, flat, pale-brown face, 
with longitudinal striae, a 
curved back with 5 angular, pale-brown ridges be- 
tween which are dark-brown grooves under which 
lie the oil-tubes, of which each fruit has 4 on the 
back and 2 to 4 on the face; the odor is strongly 
aromatic and the taste sweetish aromatic. — c. 
' About 2.5 to-4% volatile oil, some fixed oil, resin, etc. 
— U. Carminative, stimulant, stomachic; mainly used 
for flavoring. Dose : 0.5 to 2 grams. 
Eoman fennel, from Fceniculum dulce, is nearly 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



477 




twice as long as the above-described Geiman fennel, 
and is lighter-colored, more or less curved, slender, 
with sharp ribs. It has a sweeter and finer aroma 
than the German variety, but contains less vola- 
tile oil. 

Petroselini Frnctns. 
Iff. Parsley Fruit. — o. The fruits of Petroselinum 
sativum; Apium Petroselinum; Um bell ife res . — 

H. Western Asia and 
Europe; cultivated gen- 
erally. — ». Roundish- 
ovate, compressed from 
the sides, about 2 mm. 
long, smooth, grayish- 
green ; the two mericarps readily separate when ripe 
and dried; each fruit has 5 thin, light-colored ridges 
on the back, and contains 6 oil-tubes ; odor and taste 
aromatic — c. About 1 to 3% volatile oil, apiin, apiol, 
some fixed oil, resin, etc. — u. Carminative, diuretic, 
stimulant, aromatic. Dose: 0.5 to 2 grams. 

Anellii Fruetns. 
N. Anethum, Dill. — o. The fruits of Anethum 
graveolens; Umbellifercz . — h. Western Asia and 
Europe; cultivated generally. — i>. Oval, compressed 
from back, about 3 to 4 mm. long, smooth, brown ; 
the two mericarps readily separate when ripe; each 

fruit has 6 oil-tubes and 
5 ridges of which the 
two lateral ones are 
broad and thin, the 
I } ? I others sharply angular; 

odor and taste spicy, 
peculiar. — c. About 3 
to 4% volatile oil, some 
fatty oil, etc. — u. Car- 
minative, stimulant, stomachic ; frequently used for 
flavoring pickles, etc. Dose : 0.5 to 2 grams. 




478 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 




Apii Fructus. 

N. Apiunty Celery Seed. — o. The fruits of Apium 
graveolens; Umbellifercz : — h. Western Asia and 
Europe; cultivated generally. 
— l>. Koundish-ovate, com- 
pressed from sides, about 1 
mm. in length, broader than 
long, smooth, brown; the two 
mericarps are usually separ- 
ated in the drug; each fruit 
has five ribs and from 12 to 16 
oil- tubes; odor and taste aromatic, peculiar. — c. About 
1£ to 3% volatile oil, apiol, some fixed oil, resin, etc. 
— U. Carminative, stimulant, stomachic ; used for 
flavoring. Dose : 0.5 to 2 grams. 

Levistici Fructus. 

N. Ligustici Fructus, Loveage Fruit, Loveage Seed. 

— o. The fruits of 
Levisticum offici- 
nale {Ligusticum 
Levisticum') ; Um- 
bellifercz. — H. Eu- 
rope ; cultivated in 
Germany. — d. 
Ovate-oblong or el- 
liptic, flattened or compressed from back, about 4 to 
5 mm. long, yellowish-brown; in the drug the meri- 
carps are usually separated; each fruit has five promi- 
nent ridges, the lateral ones larger than the dorsal, 
and six oil-tubes ; aromatic odor and taste. — c. 
Volatile oil, etc. — u. Aromatic stimulant, carmin- 
ative, diaphoretic, emmenagogue. Dose: 0.5 to 2 
grams, best in infusion. 

Angelicse Fructus. 

jr. Angelica Fruit, Angelica Seed. — o. and h. The 




NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



479 




fruits of Ar change lica officinalis (Garden Angelica) ; 

Umb elliferce . This 
plant is a native of 
Northern Asia and 
Europe; cultivated. In 
America the similar 
| fruit of Archangelica 
atropurpurea, which is 
indigenous to the United 
States, is sometimes used 
as a substitute for the 
fruits of Garden Angelica. — ». Ovate or elliptic, 
flattened or compressed from back, about 4 to 5 mm. 
long, yellowish; in the drug the mericarps are usually- 
separated ; each fruit has three well-marked dorsal 
and two broad-winged lateral ridges and numerous 
oil-tubes ; odor and taste aromatic. — c. Volatile oil. 
— U. Carminative stimulant ; mainly used for flavor- 
ing. Dose : 0.5 to 2 grams. 

Danci Fruetus. 

Iff. Carota, Carotcz Fruetus, Carrot Fruit. — o. The 
fruits of Daucus Carota; UmbellifercB. — h. Native of 

Asia and Europe; 
naturalized in 
North America; 
cultivated. — i>. 
Oval, flattened or 
, compressed from 
back, about 4 mm. 
long, grayish- 
brown; fruits 
usually separated 
in the drug; each 
fruit has six oil-tubes and seven ridges, four of which 
are beset with bristly spines and the three interme- 
diate ones with fine hairs; odor slightly and taste 
pungently aromatic. — c. Some volatile oil, fixed oil, 




480 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

etc. — u. Stimulant and diuretic. Dose : 0.5 to 2 
grams, best in infusion. 

GROUP LXIII. 

FLESHY FRUITS, OR BERRIES, DRIED OR PREPARED. 

Drugs of this group and of Group LXIV, while 
botanically quite distinct, are not always easily 
differentiated, so that both groups must be consid- 
ered together when trying to determine the identity 
of some unknown drug belonging here. 

A berry is a fleshy fruit in which the seed or seeds 
(usually more than one) are imbedded ; it is often 
the product of a compound pistil. The peculiarity of 
the berry is, that the hardness of the seeds (when 
they are hard) is due to the hardening of the seed- 
coats, as in the grape. The ovary in the berry has 
matured into a more or less fleshy mass, the rind of 
which usually remains thin and delicate, as in the 
currant or tomato, but may be tough and leathery as 
in the orange or lemon, or even hard as in the 
gourds; in the latter case the berry is designated as 
a pepo. 

A drupe may resemble a berry very closely, and in 
fact, there seem to be transitional forms which it is 
difficult to place in either group without careful 
microscopical examination. The drupe is a fleshy, 
berry-like fruit in which the seed or seeds (usually 
only one) are imbedded, but the characteristic which 
distinguishes the drupe from the berry ts, that while 
the outer and middle layers of the ovary develop 
into a more or less fleshy substance (sarcocarp) as in 
the berry, the inner layer of the ovary hardens into a 
"stone* ' (endocarp or putamen) in which the seed is 
contained, and commonly this stony layer is consid- 
ered as part of the seed, as in the peach or plum. 

If we carefully open or dissect the hard seed of a 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY, 



481 



berry by removing the hard outer part, we find a 
naked embryo, or albumen containing the embryo, 
within ; while, if we carefully examine the hard 
"seed" of a drupe, we find that after removal of the 
stony part, the seed within still has its seed-coats. 

For example : This illus- 
tration shows a microscop- 
ical section of a part of the 
fruit and seed of cubeb, 
the outer part of the fruit 
being above and the seed 
being below; in the draw- 
ing a shows a section of 
the fruit with the scleren- 
chyma cells or stone-cells 
of the inner layer of the 
fruit, and b shows the sec- ■ 
tion of the seed; the star 
shows the seed-coats of the 
seed. In black pepper, 
which is very closely re- 
lated, botanically, to cubeb, 
we find no such hardening 
of the inner layer of the 
fruit, although the inner layer is intimately blended 
or grown together with the seed-coats, and black 
pepper is therefore a berry while cubeb is a drupe. 

While it is perfectly easy to determine in the case 
of large fruits of pronounced structure, as between 
raisins and prunes, which is a berry and which a 
drupe, it is difficult to decide this matter in case of 
small fruits like black pepper and cubeb, pimento or 
buckthorn berries, etc. ; and in fact, the latter, while 
called "berries" in the trade, are really compound 
drupes. 

For practical purposes, therefore, no sharp distinc- 
tions need be made between drugs of these two 
groups, but both groups should be considered to- 




482 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

gether, although, for abstract scientific reasons, a dis- 
tinction is here made. 

Juniperus, which is really a spurious fruit, or 
fleshy cone, belonging in Group LXI and there de- 
scribed, may be supposed to belong among the berries, 
and be looked for here ; it is therefore mentioned. 

See also drugs of Group LXIV. 

Small, wrinkled, black berries, 
3 to 4 mm. in diameter ; pun- 
gently spicy Piper Nigrum. 

Oblong-conical, glossy red berry, 
about 2 cm. long ; taste very 
hot Capsicum. 

Very light, spongy, white or 
yellowis h-w h i t e, globular 
fruits, 5 to 10 cm. in diameter; 
very bitter Colocynthls. 

Soft, shriveled, flattened berries, 
brownish, translucent; very 
sweet Uvae Passse. 

Koughly granular, hard, gray- 
ish-brown berries with circu- 
lar scar at base Aurantii Fr. Immat. 

Small compound berries with 
10 carpels, almost black; 
sticking together in lumps Phytolacca? Fructus. 

Oval-oblong fruits, with 4-cleft 

calyx ; odor clove-like Caryophylli Fructus. 

Small round fruit resembling a 
berry, about 5 mm. in diam- 
eter, brownish-black with blu- 
ish bloom < Juniperus. 

Piper Nigrum. 

N. Pepper, Black Pepper. — o. The unripe fruit of 
Piper nigrum; Piperacece. — h. Native of India 
(Malabar), but cultivated also in Sumatra, Borneo, 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



483 




matic, taste 
volatile oil, ( 



Siam, and other tropical countries. — D. A globular 

berry, without 
stalk, 3 to 4 mm. 
in diameter, wrin- 
kled, brown to 
brownish -black, 
grayish -black or 
black; odor aro- 
pungently spicy. — c. About 1 to 2% 
3 to 8% piperin, some resin, fat, etc. 
— U. Stimulant, tonic, stomachic. Dose: 0.3 to 1.5 
grams. Piperin is used as a febrifuge. Pepper is 
commonly used as a condiment or spice. 
For White Pepper see Group LXV. 
Capsicum. 

S. Capsicum, Cayenne Pepper, .African Pepper, 
Bird Pepper. — o. The fruit of Capsi- 
cum fastigiatum; Solanacecz.— h. Na- 
tive of tropical America ; cultivated in 
tropical and subtropical countries. — 
I>. Oblong-conical berry, about \\ to 2 
cm. and up to 3 cm. long, broadest at 
base which has a persistent, cup- 
shaped, five-toothed calyx; the fruit 





has glossy red or reddish-brown, leathery, somewhat 



484 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



translucent walls, and two cells containing numerous 
flat, kidney-shaped, yellowish seeds attached to a 
thick central placenta ; odor peculiar, taste intensely 
hot and spicy. — c. Capsaicin, fixed oil, resin, etc. — 
U. Stimulant stomachic condiment ; externally a pow- 
erful rubefacient and counter-irritant. Dose: 0.1 to 
0.5 grams. 

Formerly the fruits of Capsicum annuum were 
used ; they are much larger and of various shapes, 
nearly cylindrical to subglobular or depressed ; they 
are the "red peppers' ' of our markets and are used 
extensively for pickling and as condiment. By culti- 
vation varieties have been produced which are quite 
mild in taste. 

Colocynthis. 

N. Colocynth, Bitter Apple. — o. The fruit of CiU 
rullus (Cucutnis) Colocynthis ; Cucurbit ace cz. — H. 




Southwestern Asia and Northeastern Africa; culti- 
vated especially in Greece and Spain.— ». The fruit 
is a gourd with a smooth, bright-yellow, leathery 
rind, which is removed when the fruit is gathered; 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



485 




the drug consists of the light, spongy pulp with the 
enclosed seeds. Globular, 
about 5 to 7 or even occasion- 
ally 10 cm. in diameter, white 
or yellowish - white, light, 
: spongy, porous, tough-elastic, 
with a three-cleft cavity with- 
in; easily breaks into three 
wedge-shaped pieces, each of 
which contains a large number 
of flat, ovate, yellowish or pale-brownish seeds near 
the outer rounded surface; no odor, taste intensely 
bitter. — c About 0.6% colocynthin, 4% bitter fatty 
oil, 13% bitter resin, 14% bitter extractive, etc. — u. 
Drastic hydragogue cathartic. Dose: 0.1 to 0.5 gram. 
Should be used with caution, as it produces severe and 
almost poisonous effects when given in too large doses. 
The larger cut shows a transverse section of colo- 
cynth ; the small cut shows a section of the ovary of 
the flower, to give an idea of the real nature of the 

structure. 

Uvae Passse. 

N. Passulce majores, Eaisins. — o. The partially 
dried berry of Vitis vim- 
fera; Ampelidece. — h. 
The grapevine is a native 
of Western Asia; culti- 
vated generally, but 
raisins are mainly pro- 
duced in Southern 
Europe and California, from light-colored (red or 
amber-colored) and very sweet varieties of grapes. 
— ». Shriveled, flattened, soft berries, brownish or 
yellowish-brown, translucent; odor aromatic and 
taste agreeably sweet. — c. Grape-sugar, potassium 
tartrate, calcium tartrate, malic acid, etc. — u. Nutri- 
tive, demulcent, slightly laxative; sometimes added 
to purgatives as a corrective. 




486 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Kaisins are not quite dried, but are preserved in 
their own sugar. 

The better kinds of raisins consist of the entire 
clusters of grapes. Inferior varieties consist of the 
berries separated from the stalks. 

A seedless variety of raisins is common in the 
trade. 

Passulcz minores, or Corinthian raisins (commonly, 
but erroneously called currants) are the fruits of 
Vitis minuta, native in Greece (and formerly plenti- 
ful near Corinth, whence the name) ; they are small, 
black, seedless, very sweet berries, which, when ripe, 
are gathered, dried, after which they are packed 
closely in magazines and preserved by a process re- 
sembling ensilage. They occur in the trade in ag- 
glutinated masses. 

Anrantii Fructus Immaturtis. 

N. Poma aurantii immatura, Aurantia immatura, 
Orange Berrie3. — o. The unripe fruits of Citrus vul- 
garis; Rutacecz (Au- 
rantiacecE), — h. Cul- 
tivated in subtropical 
countries. — 1>. Glob- 
I ular berries, averag- 
I ing about 5 to 10 mm. 
in diameter, although 
both smaller and 
larger ones occur, roughly granular on the surface 
from the dried-up oil-glands, grayish-brown to green- 
ish-black externally and pale-brown within, with a 
circular scar at the base, and containing 8 to 10 very 
small and hollow cells with undeveloped ovules along 
the central column; odor aromatic, taste bitter and 
aromatic. — c. The bitter glucoside hesperedin, vola- 
tile oil, etc. — u. Bitter tonic, stomachic and stimu- 
lant. Mainly employed in combination with other 
aromatics and bitters. Dose : 1 to 2 grams. 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



487 




Phytolacca? Fructns. 

BT. Poke Berry. — o. The fruit of Phytolacca de- 
candra; Phytolaccacecz. — H. A common, coarse, 
North American weed; natural- 
ized in Europe. — d. The fruit 
is a compound berry of 10 car- 
, pels, each of which contains a 
k (? c?J ^^W^M^ small, black seed. Flattened 
or compressed globular, about 
6 to 8 mm. in diameter and 5 mm. high, nearly cir- 
cular, almost black, with thin skin and juicy dark- 
red pulp; in the drug the berries are partially dried 
and usually agglutinated in masses; no odor, taste 
sweet, slightly acrid. — c. Sugar, gum, coloring 
matter, etc. — u. Alterative and anti-rheumatic. 
Dose: 0.5 to 1 gram. The illustrations show the 
berry in natural size, whole and in vertical section, 
and in transverse section enlarged. 

Caryophylli Fructus. 

Anthophylli, or mother-cloves, are the partly 
developed berries of the clove-tree (see 
Clove, Group LIV). Oval, oblong, up to 3 
cm. long and 6 to 8 mm. thick, with per- 
sistent four-toothed calyx, wrinkled, gen- 
erally 1-celled and 1-seeded, grayish-brown; 
odor and taste like those of cloves, but 

weaker. — c. and u. Similar to those of cloves; used 

to adulterate powdered cloves. 
Jnnipems has been described in Group LXI. 




GROUP LXIV. 



DRUPES, DRIED OR PREPARED. 

See the introductory remarks to Group LXIII, 
where the structure of the drupe has been explained. 
See also drugs of Group LXIII. 



488 NOTES ON PHAKMACOGNOSY. 

Globular, wrinkled, stalked, brownish- 
black drupe, 3 to 5 mm. diameter; 
odor and taste spicy Cubeba. 

Oval, oblong or globular, bluish to 
blackish drupe, 3* to 4 cm. long; 
fruit-like odor and sweet taste Prunum. 

Roundish, wrinkled, blackish-brown 
drupe, about 6 mm. diameter; odor- 
less Cocculus. 

Obscurely lobed, wrinkled, black fruit 
with four brown seeds, 5 mm. diam- 
eter ; disagreeable odor, bitter taste . Rbamni Fr. 

Globular drupe, 5 mm. diameter, with 
4-toothed calyx, reddish-brown ; 
spicy Piinenta. 

Oval or sub-globular drupe, 3 mm. 
diameter, densely hairy, crimson; 
taste acidulous Rims Glabra. 

Kidney-shaped drupe with grayish- 
brown rind and black acrid juicy 
pulp Anacardium, 

Similar to last, but heart-shaped and 

darker brown Semecarpus. 

, Cubeba. 
jr. Cubeb. — o. The fruit of Piper Cubeba; Piper- 

acece; gathered before it is quite ripe. — h. Java ; 

cultivated. — i>. A globular drupe about 3 to 5 mm. in 

diameter, contracted at the base into a stalk 4 to 6 




mm. long, from which reticulate wrinkles extend 
over the surface, and which cannot be separated from 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



489 



the fruit except by breaking it, gray, brown to 
blackish-brown externally, whitish within and with 
its one seed not united with the putamen; odor spicy, 
taste pungently aromatic. — c. Up to 15% volatile 
oil, some resin, etc. — u. Stimulant blennorhetic, 
diuretic, expectorant. Dose : 1 to 8 grams. 
Primtim. 
N. Prune. — o. The prepared and partially dried 
fruit of any one of several varieties of the common 

plum, Prunus 
domestica; Ro- 
sacea. — h. Na- 
tive of Western 
Asia, but culti- 
vated gener- 
ally; prunes are 
prepared in 
Southern Eu- 
rope and Cali- 
fornia . — D. 
Oval, oblong or globular, about 2.5 to 4 cm. long, 
shriveled and wrinkled, purplish-blue to black exter- 
nally, with soft brownish pulp surrounding an ovate 
flat stone which encloses the seed ; fruit-like odor and 
sweet acidulous taste. — c. Sugar, fruit acids, etc. 
— U. Nutritive, laxative, frequently used as a cor- 
rective with senna, but mainly as a food. 
Coccnliis. 
N. Cocculus IndictiSy Fish-berry. — o. The drupace- 
ous fruit of Anamirta Cocculus; Menispermacecz. — 
H. East India, Ceylon, Java, etc. — i>. Obscurely 
kidney-shaped, roundish, about 8 mm. in diameter, 
wrinkled, apex and base near together, blackish- 
brown externally, reddish-brown within, the skin 
and pulp brittle, the stone pale-brown; odorless, the 
fleshy part tasteless, but the seed bitter and poison- 
ous. — c. Picrotoxin, resin, etc. — u. Sedative. Dose: 
0.1 to 0.2 gram. 




490 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



It is called "fish-berry" because it is sometimes fed 
to fishes in bait to stupefy them, so that they may be 




more readily caught; fish so poisoned are said to be 
injurious when used as food. 

Riiamni Cathartics Fructus. 

N. Buckthorn Berries. — o. The drupaceous fruit of 

Rhamnus cathar- 
tic a; Rhamnecz. — 
H. Northern temper- 
ate zone; indig- 
enous to the Eastern 
hemisphere, natur- 
alized in America. — 
». When fresh the 
fruit is round, sup- 
ported on a circular 
disc, the parchment- 
x ~$£0f ^^^ like endocarp 4- 
celled (more rarely 2, 3 or 5-celled) and 4-seeded, 
black externally, greenish within ; owing to the thin 
flesh this dries so that the whole fruit assumes the 
shape of the endocarp and appears lobed or fur- 
rowed; the dried fruit as it occurs in the drug is 
deeply wrinkled, about 5 mm. in diameter, with a 
fragile stalk, a brownish-green pulp, and with brown 
seeds that are triangular-rounded, with a deep fur- 
row on the back so that a section of one appears 




NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 491 

horseshoe-shaped; faint bat disagreeable odor and 
taste bitter and acrid. When chewed the fruits color 
the saliva greenish. — c. Rhanmocathartin, sugar, 
gum, etc. — c. Brisk hydragogue cathartic. Dose : 
2 to 5 grams, best as fluid extract. 

Pimento. 

N. Pimento, Allspice. — o. The nearly ripe fruit of 

Pimento, offi- 
cinalis (Euge- 




nia Pimenta'); 
My rta cecz. — 
H. Indigenous 
to West Indies ; cultivated in tropical America and in 
India. — D. A globular or obscurely quadrangular 
drupe, about 5 mm. in diameter, surmounted by a 
four-toothed calyx and the remains of the style, 
warty granular, grayish or reddish-brown, 1 or 2- 
celled, each ceil containing one seed which is plano- 
convex when there are two in a fruit; odor and taste 
pungently spicy, resembling cloves. — c. About 4% 
volatile oil, some resin, etc. — u. Aromatic stimulant, 
mainly employed as a spice. Sometimes used as fluid 
extract in doses 0.5 to 2 grams. Also used whole in 
"hot spiced wine" (German: "Glueh-wein"). 

A variety of Eugenia (Myrtus) is indigenous to 
Mexico, Myrtus Tabasco; this plant furnishes a 
variety of allspice which is larger than the more com- 
mon variety described above, but it is used for the 
same purposes as the latter. 

Rims Glabra. 

N. Rhois Glabrcz Fructus, Sumach Berries. — o. 
The drupaceous fruit of Rhus glabra; Anacardiacecz. 
— II. North America. — ». Oval or subglobular, about 
3 mm. in diameter, bright crimson to brownish, 
densely hairy, containing an oblong-roundish, gray, 
hard stone surrounding the seed ; no odor, taste acid- 
ulous. — c. Tannin, potassium malate, etc. — u. Slightly 



492 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



acidulous and refrigerant, and mildly astringent. 

Dose: 2 to 5 grams, 

best given in the form 

of fluid extract. The 

infusion is also used 

as a gargle. 

The illustrations 
show a fruit in nat- 
ural size and two, one 
from the side and one 
from the edge, en- 
larged; also, on the 
left, some of the hairs 
and glands, much enlarged. 

Anacardiiim. 

Br. Anacardium occidentale, Cashew Nut. — o. The 
drupaceous fruit of Anacardium occidentale ; Ana- 
cardiacece. — h. Indigenous to tropical America; 
naturalized in Africa and the East Indies. — ». Shape 
and size are well shown in the drawings. A kidney- 
shaped, grayish-brown drupe, 2 to 3 cm. long, about 
2 cm. broad and 6 to 8 mm. thick, glossy black, 





1-celled and 1-seeded ; this drupe resembles a nut be- 
cause the outer part of the sareocarp or flesh is har- 
dened into a brittle rind (the exocarp) which is con- 
nected to the putamen or stone, but so that there are 
many cavities in this layer (the mesocarp) in which 




NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 493 

there is a black, acrid juicy pulp ; the seed consists of 
two white cotyledons enveloped by brown seed-coats. 
— c. A yellowish, oily, acrid substance which is 
more vesicating than cantharides. The kernel con- 
tains a bland fixed oil. — u. The kernel, raw or 
roasted, is edible. The pulp or juice is a local irri- 
tant; it is sometimes employed to destroy warts and 
excessive granulation tissue. The 
oil has been used as a vermifuge in 
doses of 0.2 gram (3 drops). 

Anacardinm orientate, Seme car- 
| pus, or Oriental Cashew Nut (from 
Semecarpus A?iacardium; Anacar- 
diacecz), from East India, is heart- 
shaped, flattish, blackish-brown, but 
otherwise similar to the true cashew 
nut in its structure, constituents and properties. 

GROUP LXV. 

PARTS OF FRUITS. 

With three exceptions the drugs of this group con- 
sist mainly of the rinds of fruits. These exceptions 
are tamarinds, white pepper and pearled barley, the 
first being the inner pulp, fibers and seeds of a fruit 
with the hard external shell or rind removed, the 
second being a berry with the external pulpy flesh 
partly removed, but with some fibro-vascular bundles 
and dried pulp still adhering to the outer surface of 
the seed, and the third being a grain from which the 
hulls and outer portions were removed, the inner 
mealy part then polished. 

In regard to the rinds it is to be regretted that in 
Latin nomenclature no difference is made between 
"barks" and "rinds", but that the word "cortex" is 
used for both; while not likely to cause confusion, it 
is not as exact a use of words as is desirable in scien- 
tific work, and it would be desirable to use distinc- 
tive words whenever possible. Possibly some vari- 



494 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

ant of the word tegmen (used to designate the inner 
seed-coat) might by common consent be used for 
"rind", for instance: Tegmentum or tegumentum; 
in that case tegmen might still mean ' 'seed-coat" and 
its meaning would not be interfered with by tegmen- 
turn meaning "fruit-coat". ■ 
Brownish-black pulp mixed 

with tough fibers and glossy 

brown seeds; acidulous vin- 
ous odor Tamarindns. 

Globular, about 2 to 3 mm. in 

diameter, grayish- white; 

peppery taste Piper Album. 

Rind of fruit, in quarters, 

dirty brownish-green on 

outer and dirty white on 

inner surfaces; fragrant. . Aurantii Amari Cortex. 
Rind of fruit in spiral bands, 

dirty brownish-green on 

outer surface, with little 

whitish parenchyma on in- 
ner surface ; fragrant Aurantii. Amari Cortex. 

Rind of fruit, in quarters, 

orange-colored on outer, 

white on inner surfaces; 

fragrant Aurantii Dulcis Cortex. 

Rind of fruit in spiral bands, 

lemon-yellow on outer, 

white on inner surfaces; 

fragrant liimonis Cortex. 

Irregular leathery fragments 

of reddish-brown rind, 

some pieces with hard, 

long, tubular calyx, and 

most pieces with oval de- 
pressions on inner surface ; 

no odor Oranati Fructns Cortex. 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 495 

Fragments of fruit, hard 
brownish-gray rind, to the 
inner side of which dried 
pulp with seeds adheres; 
no odor Belre Fructns. 

Hard, thick, deep-brown 
rind, without adhering 
pulp, with remains of six- 
rayed stigma and of hard 
calyx ; no odor ^langostana. 

Oval grains, about 3 to 4 mm. 
long, yellow is h-w h i t e, 
whiter at ends, yellowish- 
brown groove along one 
side Hordenm Perlatnm. 

Tamarindns. 

x. Tamarind. — o. The preserved pulp of the fruit 
of Tamarindiis Indica; Legicminoscz. — h. East 
India, North Africa, West Indies, etc. — i>. The fruit 
is an indehiscent legume, up to 10 or 12 cm. long, about 
3 cm. broad and 1£ cm. thick, with a brownish pulp 
and 3 to 12 seeds. The drug consists of the brown- 
ish to brownish-black pulp composed of parenchyma 
cells mixed with strong, branching, fibrous bundles, 
and flattish, subquadrangular, glossy brown seeds, 
each of which is enclosed in a tough membrane ; 
fruity odor and sweetish acidulous taste. — c. About 
9% citric acid, 14% tartaric acid, 3% bitartrate of 
potassium, some malic acid, 12% sugar, pectin, gum, 
etc. — u. Tamarind pulp dissolved in water makes a 
pleasant, acidulous, slightly laxative drink. Tama- 
rinds are occasionally added to other cathartics. 
Dose : 10 to 20 grams or more ; practically ad libitum. 

Piper Album. 

X. White Pepper. — o. The ripe seeds of Piper 
nigrum (See Piper nigrum. Group LXIII), with the 
inner portion of the fruit-pulp adhering, or "the 



496 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



ripe fruit oi P. nigr. with the 




outer and middle 
layers of the fruit- 
pulp removed", 
The ripe berries of 
black pepper are 
soakedin water, af- 
ter which they are 
driedinthesunand 
then gently 
rubbed between 
the hands to re- 
move the dark 
outer portion, but 
so that the soft 
white flesh of the 




PIPER ALBUM. 

berry remains ad- 
herent to the seed. 
— ». White pepper 
is globular, 2 to 3 
mm. in diameter, 
dirty white to 
yellowish -brown, 
smooth, with about 
10 veins (fibro-vas- 
cular bundles of the fleshy pulp) running from base to 
apex; the seed itself, after removal of the whitish 
remains of the fruit parenchyma, is reddish-brown and 
containsalarge albumenin whichis imbedded thesmall 
embryo; odor, taste, constituents and uses like those of 
black pepper, except that it is less pungent and spicy. 



TAMARINDUS. 



NOTES ON" PHARMACOGNOSY. 



497 



The illustrations show one grain of white pepper in 
natural size, and one grain enlarged. 

Aurantii Aniari Cortex. 

N. Bitter Orange Peel. — o. The rind of the fresh 




fruit of Citrus vulgaris; Rutacece (Aurantiace<z). 
— H. Cultivated in subtropical countries. — ». In 
spiral band ("ribbons") or in quarters; glandular 
and dark brownish-green externally, with a thin 
layer of white spongy parenchyma on the inner sur- 
face; odor fragrant, taste very bitter. — c. About 1% 




volatile oil, a bitter principle hesperidin, etc. — u. 



498 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Bitter tonic, stomachic, stimulant carminative. Dose : 
2 to 5 grams. 

The spiral bands are made by peeling with a knife 
and contain less of the spongy parenchyma than does 
the peel in quarters. 

The best bitter orange peel is that obtained from 
the rather small fruit of a variety of orange grown on 
the Island of Curasao, in the West Indies. It is 
called ' 'Curasao Orange Peel" and has externally a 
dirty green, internally a dirty whitish color. Next 
in quality is the peel from an orange grown in South- 
ern France, which is said to be green when ripe. 

Much of the so- 
called ' 'Curacao 
peel" sold in the 
trade is probably 
not from either of 
these sources, but 
from unripe or- 
anges grown in 
Southern Europe. 

Auranlii Dulcis 
Cortex. 

N. Sweet Orange 
Peel. — o. The rind 
of the fresh fruit 
of Citrus Auran- 
tium; Rut ace cz 
{Aurantiacece') . — 
H. Cultivated in 
sub-tropical coun- 
tries, Southern 
Europe, West In- 
dies, Florida, Cali- 
> <h •-'", . • rv fornia, etc. — 1>. 

r- X ^>- >y-;k:^^22^^^ The rind of the 
fruit is usually removed in quarters and is glandular 
rough and orange yellow on the outer surface, whitish 




'■^W^^^^m^fm^W0' 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 499 

on inner surface; a section shows intercellular oil- 
glands or spaces near the outer surface and a loose, 
spongy, white parenchyma (consisting of peculiar 
branched cells) within; odor fragrant, taste aromatic 
and slightly bitter.— c. Volatile oil, hesperidin (much 
less than in bitter orange peel), etc. — u. Stimulant 
carminative and stomachic, but employed mainly as 
an excipient and flavoring agent. 

Iiimonis Cortex. 

X. Lemon Peel. — o. The rind of the fruit of Citrus 
Limonum; Rutacece {Aurantiace<z). — h. Cultivated 
in sub-tropical countries. — ». In spiral ribbons or 
bands, resembling in shape the rind of the bitter 
orange figured above; as the rind of the lemon cannot 
be separated from the fruit except by peeling with a 
knife, lemon peel occurs only in this one form ; the 
bands are thin, deep lemon-yellow, and glandular on 
the outer and whitish on the inner surface; odor 
fragrant and taste aromatic and somewhat bitter. — 
C. Volatile oil, hesperidin, etc. — u. Stimulant, car- 
minative and stomachic, but employed mainly as an 
excipient and flavoring agent. 

Granaii Fructus Cortex. 

J?. Pomegranate Rind. — o. The rind of the fruit of 
Punica Granatum; Granatacece (Lythrariece). — H. 
Grows wild in Northern Africa and Southern Asia 
and Europe; cultivated in all sub-tropical countries. 

— ». The illustrations show the fruit whole and in 
longitudinal section (with seeds removed), and two 
fragments as they are found in the drug, all natural 
size ; the rind occurs in irregular fragments from 1 to 
2 mm. thick, leathery, breaking with granular frac- 
ture, reddish-brown or brownish-red externally, 
lighter on the inner surface ; some of the pieces have 
the tubular persistent calyx attached and all are more 
or less marked on the inner surface with depressions 
caused by the seeds ; without odor, taste astringent. 

— C. About 28% tannin. — c. Astringent. Used in- 



500 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

ternally or locally as a gargle or wash, in diarrhoeas 




and relaxed conditions of the mucous membranes 
generally. Dose: 1 to 2 grams. 

Belae Fructus. 

X. Bela, Bael Fruit, Bengal Quince. — o. The un- 
ripe fruit of Aegle Marmelos; Rutacecz {Auranli- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



501 



acecz). —h. Cultivated in East India. — d. The fruit 
ia orange-shaped, 5 to 10 cm. in diameter, and about 




10 to 12-celled, but as found in the trade it is broken. 



502 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

The drag consists of irregular fragments ; the rind is 
about 2 to 3 mm. thick, smooth, hard, and brownish- 
gray externally ; the dried pulp, which adheres to the 
rind, is hard, reddish-brown, whitish within, mucilag- 
inous, acidulous, and 
encloses oblong, flat, 
hairy seeds ; no odor, 
taste slightly astrin- 
gent. — €. A small 
quantity of tannin, 
some mucilage, su- 
gar, etc. — u. Mildly 
astringent, aromatic 
and demulcent. 
Dose: 2 to 5 grams. 

Mangostanse 
Fractals. 

N. Mangos tana, 
M a n g o s t een. — o. 
The rind of the fruit of Garcinia Mangostana; Gut- 
tifer<z. — YL. East India. — ». The fruit is about the 
size and form of a small orange; it is prepared for 
trade by breaking the fruit and removing the pulp 
from the pieces; the drug consists of irregular frag- 





ments of rind, about 5 to 6 mm. thick, hard and 
smooth, dark-brown and mottled; some of the pieces 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 503 

have adhering remains of the persistent calyx, others 
have the remains of a prominent, thickened, radiate 
stigma ; inodorous, taste astringent and bitter. — c. 
Tannin and a cry stallizable bitter principle. — u. Pow- 
erfully astringent; useful in diarrhoeas, dysentery 
etc. Dose : 1 to 5 grams. 

Hordenm Perlatum. 

Pearl Barley is the fruit of Hordeumdistichum (nat. 
r\ & /7\ ® or ^" ' Graminecz) deprived 
U\® ^ / fm Q® r> of the seed-coats. There are 
i^^C^I'/W (i\® two varieties in the grocery 
^ \^\Q \ly \&0@ trade; in one the ends are 
^ ^ rounded off and* the seed- 

coats removed, so that the grains are ovate, whitish, 
mealy, with a groove on one side in which are rem- 
nants of the yellowish-brown seed-coats ; in the other 
the barley grain is probably cut in two and the frag- 
ments are then rounded, forming small, globular, 
white, mealy grains. Pearl Barley is used as an 
article of diet and to make demulcent drinks for the 
sick. Rarely used medicinally. 

The illustrations show both kinds of pearled barley 
in natural size, and one grain of each kind enlarged. 

SEEDS. 

To understand the structure of seeds we must first 
consider the structure of ovules. In the drawings we 
* ^ ^^ see, on the left, 

•\---c. //^^- ■'' ^\\ a sec ti° n of a 

^ Ay ■'./. vuA straight ovule, 

much enlarged, in 

\Y\' a Hi '■'•■•■■ ■"'."'■ •'• Jill wn i cn ^ i 9 the nu- 
cleus, b the inner 
and c the outer 
ovule-coats, d the 

e. /: ( place of junction 

of nucleus, ovule- 
coats and stalk and which is called chalaza; f 




504 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

is the orifice through which the end of the pollen- 
tube reaches the embryo sac; the ovule may be 
sessile or it may have a stalk; this stalk, e, is 
called the funiculus. The figure on the right shows 
an inverted ovule, in which the funiculus is bent 
and united to one side of the ovule, the ridge thus 
formed being called the rhaphe or seam. When 
the ovule matures, after fertilization, it forms a seed; 
the nucleus becomes developed either into an embryo 
alone, or into an embryo imbedded in and surrounded 
by the albumen, also called endosperm or perisperm; 
in the first case the nourishment needed by the germ- 
inating plantlet is stored in the embryo or young plant 
itself and the kernel of such seeds consists mainly of 
the cotyledons, with the radicle and sometimes a 
more or less developed plumule; in the second case 
the nourishment is in the albumen which surrounds 
the embryo. The ovule-coats develop into the seed- 
coats, which sometimes remain as separate coats, 
sometimes become united so as to apparently form 
only one coat. 

The growing seed obtains its nourishment from the 
placenta of the ovary (maternal organ) through the 
funiculus, and this funiculus of the plant is therefore 
analogous to the funiculus or umbilical cord of the 
human or animal embryo or foetus, which also unites 
the developing young to the tissues of the mother 
through the placenta. When the seed is ripe it sep- 
arates from the funiculus and thereby from the 
maternal tissues, and at the point where the funicu- 
lus was attached a scar or mark is left which is called 
the hilum, and which corresponds or is analogous to 
the navel of mammals. 

Under the epidermis of the cotyledons of many 
seeds, as well as under the epidermis of young twigs, 
petioles and midribs of leaves, etc., we sometimes 
find a peculiar kind of cells and of tissue, which 
we have not heretofore considered. To support the 



XGTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



o05 



tender epidermis there may be developed from the 
fundamental tissue certain hardwalled cells, as 

for instance the 
scleren ch ymatons 
cells under the epi- 
dermis o f s a rs a pa- 
ri 11 a root, or the 
stone cells which 
constitute the outer 
layer of the middle 
bark of cinnamon, 
or the sclerenchy- 
matous cells under 
the epidermis of the 
fruit of cubeb. But 
in some cases, espce- 
in the positions referred to above, the walls of 
supporting cells for the epidermis become 
thickened very much in the angles of the cells and but 
little elsewhere; the'se cells are called collenchyma- 
tous cells and the tissue formed by them constitutes 
collenchyma or collenchyrnatous tissue. This kind of 
cells and tissue is, however, cf quite subordinate im- 
portance to the pharmacognocist, but may sometimes 
he-p to some trifling extent in recognizing powdered 
seeds, or powdered leaves from which the petioles, 
etc., have been imperfectly removed in garbling, and 
their nature is therefore briefly referred to here. 




ially 

such 



GROUP L X V I ■ 

WHOLE SEED?. 

The presence or absence of albumen in the seeds is 
made the basis for dividing seeds into groups by 
many of the authors on pharmacognosy; the first 
figure, on the left, shows a section of pumpkin seed, 
the second, the embryo of the same seed, both in 
natural size, showing that the embryo occupies all 



506 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 




basis of grouping seeds, 
stress on the subject; 



the space within the seed-coats; the figure on the 
right shows a section of colchicum seed, much en- 
larged, in which 
the small embryo, 
b, is seen in the 
large mass of 
albumen, a. 

We will make 
this a subordinate 
but without placing much 
we will base cur main 
division on the size of seeds, and while this may be 
considered less "scientific" by some, it will be found 
to be more practical because it makes the recognition 
of seeds more easy and certain ; and in a case of this 
kind mere abstractly scientific considerations should 
be subordinated to considerations of practical utility. 
We therefore divide seeds into sub-groups, as fol- 
lows : Large, more than about 15 mm. long; Medium- 
Sized, less than about 15 mm. and more than about 5 
mm. long; and Small, less than about 5 mm. long. 
Each of these sub-groups is again divided: 1, with 
well-marked albumen, and 2, with little or no albu- 
men. 

[ ( Myristica, Nux 

well-marked albumen < vomica, 

[ignatia, Areca. 



Large <! 



r Amygdala, Phy- 
sostigma, Theo- 
little or no albumen { broma, Dipterix, 
Citrullus, Pepo, 
1, Strophanti! us. 



Medium-sized { 



(Caffea, Sta- 
well-marked albumen I phisagria, 
[Sabadilla. 

{ Cydonium, 
little or no albumen { Cucumis, 
(.Abrus, 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



507 



well-marked albumen < 



Small < 



f Cardamomi Semen, 
Colchici Semen, 
Stramonii Semen, 
Hyoscyami Semen, 
Lobelise Semen, 
Papaveris Semen, 
Delphinium, 
(Piper Album). 



f Li nam, Sin apis Ni- 

little or no albumen S^.Sinapis Alba, 

Ranee Semen, 
[Foe num. Graecnm. 

In examining drugs of this group we must near in 
mind, however, that quite a number of the drugs of 
Group LXII (dry fruits) are called "seeds" in the 
trade, such as the cremocarps ("anise-seed", "cara- 
way-seed", etc.), "'canary-seed", "hemp-seed 7 ', and 
others; most of these are readily reecguized as fruits 
and therefore do not belong here. Both names and 
appearance of Santonica and Chenopodium (both 
"worm-seeds" in the trade) may mislead and some 
might look in this group to find them ; Santonica was 
described in Group LII, and Chenopodium in Group 
LVI. The spores of Lycopodium are sometimes 
called "semen lycopodii", but in this case only the 
name is misleading, for the drug cannot be mistaken 
for seeds. 

Large Seeds; with well-marked albumen: 
Oval, about 2.5 cm. long, netted-veined, 

with white markings from lime-dust, 

marbled within Jlyristica. 

Round, flat, disc-like seeds, up to 2.5 
cm. in diameter and 4 mm. thick; gray 
and very hard \«x Vomica. 

Irregularly ovate and angular, about 3 
cm. long, brownish-black and very 
hard Ignafia. 

Short rounded cone with flattened base; 



508 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

about 2.5 cm. long; brownish with net- 
work of reddish veins ; heavy, hard Areca. 

Little or no albumen; two cotyledons: 

Ovate, flattened, pointed above, ob- 
tuse below ; 2 to 2.5 cm. long ; ex- 
ternally brown, white within; 
agreeable nut-like taste Amygdala Dsiicis. 

Appearance like last, but taste bit- 
ter with flavor of oil of bitter 

almonds Amygdala Amara 

Oblong, somewhat kidney-shaped, 
2.5 to 3 cm. long; chocolate- 
brown, with broad black groove 
on convex Side Physostigana. 

Oval, about 2 to 2.5 cm. long; with 
thin, fragile, reddish-brown shell. Theobroma. 

Oblong, 4 to 5 cm. long; blackish- 
brown, wrinkled; odor vanilla- 
like Dapterix. 

Oval, flat, about 1.5 cm. long; 
black, brownish-black or pale 
yellowish-brown with black 
edges Citriiiius. 

Oval, flat, about 2 cm. long; whit- 
ish Pepo. 

Oblong-lanceolate, obtusely two- 
edged, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long; gray- 
ish-green, silky hairy strophantus. 

Medium-sized Seeds; with well-marked albumen: 

Plano-convex, oval, grooved on 
flat side ; about 1 cm. long; green- 
ish-brown Caffea. 

Flattish-tetrahedral, about 5 to 7 
mm. long, externally reticulately 
ridged ; brownish stapfiiisagria. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 509 

Lanceolate, angular, about 6 mm. 
long, 1.5 to 2 mm. thick at thick- 
est end; glossy brownish-black; 
often mixed with the 3-celled 

capsules Sabadilla. 

Little orno albumen; two cotyledons: 

Ovate or ovate-oblong, triangu- 
larly compressed, about 8 mm. 
long; brown, with grayish epi- 
thelial scales ; mucilaginous Cydoninm. 

Oblong-lanceolate, flat, thin, 
sharply two-edged, about 10 to 12 
mm. long ; whitish Cncnmis. 

Sub-globular, about 6 to 8 mm. in 
diameter; scarlet-red with black 

Spot Abrns. 

Small Seeds; well-marked albumen: 

Angular, often adhering to one 
another; about 3 mm. long; 
brownish-yellow Cardamom! Semen. 

Obovate or nearly globular, 
finely pitted, 1 to 2 mm. in 
diameter; xeddish-brown Coichiei Semen. 

Kidney-shaped, flattened, pit- 
ted, about 3 mm. long; brown- 
ish-black Stramonii Semen. 

Kidney-shaped, flattened, re- 
ticulately wrinkled, 1 to 1.5 
mm. long; gray or yellowish- 
gray Hyoscyami Semen. 

Very small seeds, about 0.75 
mm. long, oblong, reticulated, ■ 
brownish ; acrid Lobelise Semen. 

Kidney-shaped, reticu lately 
wrinkled, pitted, about 1 mm. 
long; yellowish- white Fapaveris Semen. 



510 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Angular, obscurely tetrahedral, 
roughly nodulated or warty, 
about 1.5 to 2 mm. long ; black. delphinium. 

Globular, about 2 to 3 mm. in 
diameter, grayish or dirty 

white ; peppery taste Piper Album. 

Little or no albumen; two cotyledons: 

Oblong-ovate, flattened, 4 to 5 
mm. long; glossy brown Linum. 

Almost globular, finely pitted, 
with circular hilum; about 1 
mm. in diameter; reddish- 
black Sinapis Nigra. 

Almost globular, finely pitted, 
with circular hilum; about 1.5 
to 2 mm. in diameter; yellow- 
ish Sinapis Alba. 

Almost globular, nearly smooth; 
about 2 to 2.5 mm. in diam- 
eter; bluish or brownish-black. Rapa* Semen. 

Oblong-angular, almost cubical, 
with a projection on one side; 
about 3 to 4 nun. long and 
about 2 mm. broad; brownish. Fcennm Ora3cnm. 

ISyriSaica. 

N. Nux Moschata, Nutmeg. — ©. The kernel of the 

§seed of My ristica 
^^. fr a grans; Myristi- 
/m^lM^ cacea * Itismorecor - 
|^^M r ecttocall this the 
§| : J kernel of the seed 

^m$M^ than to cal1 ifc seed » 
^^Dl^l^y because the external 
stony testa or seed- 
coat is removed before the drug is sent into trade. — 
H. India, Philippine, Molucca and Banda Islands, 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 511 

West Indies, South America; cultivated. — i>. The 
illustrations show whole nutmeg, and transverse sec- 
tion of same, both in natural size. Round or oval, 2 
to 2.5 cm. long, externally brownish, reticulately 
wrinkled, sometimes with the depressions of these 
wrinkles filled with white lime dust, with a circular 
depression at apex and a whitish nipple-like projec- 
tion at base, from which the depressed wrinkles 
radiate; internally fatty, pale yellowish-brown mar- 
bled with dark-brown markings due to folds or in- 
dentations of the inner seed-coat; consists mainly of 
albumen, with a small and often undeveloped em- 
bryo in a cavity near the base; odor fragrant, taste 
aromatic and somewhat bitter. — c. 2 to 8% volatile 
oil, 25 to 30% fixed oil, besides starch, etc. — U- A 
spicy and stimulant carminative and stomachic; 
mainly used merely as a flavor or spice. Dose: 0.5 
to 1.5 grams. 

Prime nutmeg should be about 2 5 cm. long, heavy, 
sound, and strongly fragrant. 

Varieties: Limed or Dutch nutmegs are covered 
with a white powder, having been dipped into milk 
of lime, presumably to protect them against injury 
by insects. 

Penang and Singapore nutmegs are darker-look- 
ing, not having been treated with lime. 

A false or wild nutmeg is said sometimes to occur, 
but it may readily be distinguished from the genuine 
by its much greater length. The writer has never 
seen any mixed with the genuine. 

Xni Vomica. 

N . Nux vomica, Quaker Buttons. — o. The seeds 
of Strychnos Nnx-vomica; Loganiacecz. — h. East 
India and East Indian Islands. — 1>. The illustra- 
tions show a whole seed, with exceptionally promi- 
nent rhaphe, and transverse and flat sections, all 
natural size. Orbicular, flat, disk-like seeds, up to 



512 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



2.5 cm. in diameter, depressed near the middle and 
thickened about the margin, with a rather obscurely 




marked rhaphe running from the center of one side 
to the margin, beneath which latter point the radicle 
of the embryo is situated ; grayish or greenish-gray 
with silky luster from minute soft hairs; the interior 
consists of a grayish-white, somewhat translucent, 
horny, exceedingly tough albumen with a large but 
very shallow central cavity into which the cotyledons 
of the embryo project; odor none, taste intensely and 
persistently bitter. — c. From 0.4 to 1% strychnine 
and about an equal proportion of brucine, some fixed 
oil, etc. — r. In small doses a bitter tonic, in some- 
what larger but still medicinal doses a motor excitant, 
useful in paralyses, especially when due to peri- 
pheral causes, from disuse of muscles, as in a frac- 
tured limb after the bandages are removed, or when 
following diphtheria, etc.; in paralyses due to central 
or brain lesions, nux vomica or its preparations are 
of less benefit. Dose: 0.05 to 0.3 gram, in tincture, 
extract or fluid extract. The drug is most frequently 
administered in the form of strychnine, of which the 
dose is from 1 to 3 milligrams (0.001 to 0.003 gram). 

Poisonous Effects : When given in excessive doses 
nux vomica (or strychnine) is a powerful poison, 
acting on the spinal cord and nerves and causing 
violent tetanoid contractions of the muscles. If 
death occurs it is due to asphyxia, owing to the in- 
ability of the patient to exhale, the muscles of res- 
piration remaining fixedly contracted. Antidotal 
treatment consists in prompt evacuation of the stom- 



NCTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



513 



ach and the administration of chemical and physio- 
logical antidotes. The best chemical antidote is 
potassium permanganate, the solution of which 
should be freely given: tannic acid has also been 
recommended. As physiological antidotes, ether, 
chloroform, bromide of potassium, amyl nitrite, etc., 
have been recommended. Violent depressants, such 
as tobacco, etc., are also physiological antidotes, but 
if used at all must be given with great caution. 

Ignatia. 

N. Ignatia, St. Ignatius' Bean. — o. The seeds of 
Strychnos Ignatii; Loganiacece. — H. Philippine 

Islands. — 1>. 
The illustra- 
tions show a 
\ whole seed, 
[and longitudi- 
'nal and trans- 
verse sections 
of same, all in natural size. The seeds are irregu- 
larly ovate and angular, 2.5 to 3 cm. long by about 
2 cm. broad and 1.5 cm. thick, dull brownish-black, 
very hard, slightly translucent when fresh but be- 
coming more opaque with age ; hilum near one end 
along margin; the light-brownish albumen, which 
constitutes most of the contents of the seed, has a 
large but shallow cavity into which the cotyledons of 
the embryo project; odor none, taste intensely and 
persistently bitter. — c. Same as in nux vomica, but 
both strychnine and brucine are present in greater 
proportion, 1 to 1.5% of each; also some fixed oil, 
etc. — u. Same as of nux vomica, but the dose is only 
about half as large ; seldom used, except for the man- 
ufacture of strychnine. 

Areca. 
jr. Areca Nut, Betel Nut. — o. Tbe seed of Areca 
Catechu; Pahnece. — h. East India. — i>. The illus- 




514 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



trations show a whole seed, a, and the base with 
hilum, etc., b, in natural size; transverse section 




somewhat enlarged. Areca nut consists mainly of 
albumen, the small embryo being imbedded within 
this just over the round spot on the base ; the seed has 
the shape of a short, rounded cone, about 2.5 to 3 cm. 
long, with a flattened base having a depressed center ; 
the outer coat is brownish, covered with a net-work 
of reddish veins which penetrate into the white albu- 
men of the seed, giving a section an appearance some- 
what like that of nutmeg ; the seed is heavy, hard, 
dense, and difficult to cut or break ; when freshly 
broken the fragments have a cheeselike odor, taste 
astringent. — c. About 15% tannin resembling that 
of catechu; about 14% fixed oil, etc.; the seed also 
contains some constituent which renders the fluid ex- 
tract liable to gelatinize. — u. Astringent and anthel- 
mintic or taenicide; dose: 15 to 20 grams, best as fluid 
extract. 

Amygdala Amara. 

]S. Bitter Almond. — o. The seeds of Prunus Amyg- 
dalus (Amygdalus communis), var. amara; Rosacea. 
— H. Cultivated in Southern Europe. — ». Closely re- 
semble sweet almonds, which see for description and 
illustrations. Bitter almonds average a little shorter 
and a little thicker than sweet almonds ; taste bitter, 
with a flavor of peach kernels. — c. By expression bit- 
ter almonds yield from 30 to 50% of a sweet, bland, 
fixed oil, identical with that obtained in the same man- 
ner from sweet almonds; between 20 and 30 % of a pecu- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 515 

liar albumen which is called emulsin, and which is 
capable of emulsifying the oil in the seeds when the 
latter are triturated with water; also from 1 to 3% of 
amygdalin, a substance which is peculiar to the bitter 
almonds and is not found in sweet almonds ; by the 
reaction of emulsin on amygdalin in the presence of 
water, oil of bitter almond and hydrocyanic acid are 
produced. — u. Bitter almonds are only used for 
flavoring, the sedative effects of the hydrocyanic acid 
being more reliably obtained from dilute hydrocyanic 
acid properly diluted. Bitter almonds are poisonous 
in large doses. 

Amygdala Dulcis. 

N. Sweet Almond. — o. The seeds of Prunus Amyg- 
dalus (Amygdalus communis) , var. dulcis; Rosacea. 
— H. Cultivated in Southern Europe. — ». The illus- 
trations show an almond 
in the shell, a seed 
removed from the shell, 
and a transverse section 
of the latter; sweet al- 
monds should be large, 
sound, clean, whole, and 
perfectly white within. 
The seeds are ovate or 
oblong-lanceolate, flat- 
tish, about 2.5 cm. long, 
covered with lines radiating from a scar at the thick 
end; the white and oily embryo consists of two 
plano-convex cotyledons with a short radicle at the 
pointed end, and usually a small plumule between 
the cotyledons; no odor, taste sweetish, bland, nut- 
like. — c. Same as of bitter almonds except that they 
contain no amygdalin. An emulsion of sweet al- 
mond does not have the odor of hydrocyanic acid ; 
any such odor would prove the admixture of bitter 
almonds. — v. Nutrient. By trituration with water 




516 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

an emulsion is obtained which is an agreeable vehi- 
cle for the administration of other remedies. This 
emulsion is preferably made from blanched almonds. 
Blanched almonds are prepared by putting the al- 
monds in lukewarm water for a short time, when the 
seed-coats swell and separate from the embryo, so 
that they can then be readily removed; hot water will 
separate the seed-coats more rapidly, but it alters the 
emulsin, so that merely warm water should be pre- 
ferred for blanching almonds. 

Physostigma. 
jr. Physostigma, Calabar Bean. — o. The seeds of 
Physostigma venenosum; Leguminosce. — h. West- 
ern Africa, near the mouth of the river Niger. — ». 
The illustrations show the whole bean and a trans- 
verse section, all in 
natural size. Oblong, 
kidney-shaped, about 
2.5 to 3 cm. long, hard, 
externally smooth, 
glossy chocolate-brown 
or grayish-brown, with 
a broad and deep red- 
dish-black groove, the 
hilum, along the con- 
vex edge; the embryo 
consists of two white 
concavo-convex cotyle- 
dons with a short radicle, so that the seed is hollow 
within ; odorless and nearly tasteless. — €. Physos- 
tigmine or eserine, calabarine, etc. — u. Motor de- 
pressant, sedative, in large doses poisonous ; mainly 
used locally in eye-troubles, to contract pupil. Dose : 
0.06 to 0.25 gram of the powder, or corresponding 
doses of the fluid extract or tincture ; the dose of the 
solid extract is about 0.008 gram. 

The antidotal treatment in cases of poisoning by 
calabar bean consists in evacuating and washing the 




NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



517 



stomach, and administering atropine in doses of 
about 0.001 gram. 

Some years ago mention was made of a somewhat 
different variety which had been found as an admix- 
ture with this drug ; it was called Physostigma cylin- 
drospermum and was said to differ mainly in being 
considerably longer and having a shorter hilum. In 
some of the more recent works all mention of this ad- 
mixture is omitted, so that it probably no longer 
occurs. 

Theobroma. 

N. Cacao, Cocoa, Chocolate Bean. — o. The seeds 




of Theobroma Cacao; Sterculiacecz. After gathering, 
the seeds are cured by a process of partial fermenta- 
tion by being laid in heaps on the ground, covered 
with leaves during the night but exposed to the sun 
by day, or by being packed in barrels or buried in 
pits in the ground for a few days, after which they 
are spread out and dried. By this process the bitter 
taste of the fresh seeds is removed. — h. Tropical 
America; cultivated in all tropical countries. — ».The 
illustrations show the seeds: a, side; b, edge; c, outer 
and d y inner surfaces of cotyledons ; e, transverse 
section. Oval, compressed, about 2 to 2.5 cm. long, 
reddish-brown or grayish-brown, with numerous 
veins ; hilum at the broad end, from which a line runs 
along the more convex border of the seed to the nar- 
row end, where the chalaza is situated; shell thin and 
fragile, embryo reddish-brown, the two cotyledons ir- 
regularly ribbed, or ridged, brittle and oily; taste 



518 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



oily and aromatic. — c. About 1 to 1.5% theobrooiin, 
about 50% fixed oil (butter of cacao), starch, etc. — 
U. The whole seeds ground fine are used to make 
chocolate ; the seeds deprived of most of the fixed oil 
and ground fine are used to make "cacao" or "cocoa," 
a drink similar to chocolate, but less rich and consid- 
ered more digestible. 

IMpterix. 

X. Tonka, Tonco, Tonka Bean. — o. The seeds of 
Dipterix odorata and D. oppositifolia; Leguminosce. 
— BE. Guiana, in Northeastern part of South America. 
». The illustrations show a 
large seed of "Dutch Ton- 
ka", whole, and with a 
part of one cotyledon cut 
away to show radicle and 
plumule, both natural size. 
Oblong, somewhat com- 
pressed or flattened, 4 to 5 
cm. long and up to 15 mm. 
broad ; externally blackish- 
brown, wrinkled, sometimes 
covered with minute, white, 
acicular crystals of cou- 
marin ; internally pale- 
brown, oily ; odor fragrant, 
taste aromatic bitter. — c. The pleasant aroma, which 
reminds of vanilla, is due to coumarin, a neutral 
principle which is soluble in fats, alcohol, diluted 
alcohol, but only slightly in water; tonka also con- 
tains about 25% fixed oil, sugar, mucilage, etc. — 
U. Mainly used for flavoring, as a cheap substitute 
for vanilla. 

Dutch tonka beans (from D. odorata) are the best ; 
they are larger, plumper and more frequently cov- 
ered with coumarin crystals than English tonka beans 
(from D. oppositifolia). 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



519 




Citrullus. 

N. Citrulli Semen, Watermelon Seed. — o. The 
seeds of Cucumis (Cucurbita) Citrullus; Cucurbit ace ce. 

— H. Cultivated generally. 

— ». The illustrations show 
seed whole, from side and 
edge, in transverse section, 
and embryo, all natural 

size. Ovate, fiat, about 12 mm. long, blackish, black- 
ish-brown or pale-brown with black edges; the em- 
bryo consists of two white plano-convex cotyledons 
and a small radicle; odorless, taste insipid. — c. No 
satisfactory analysis; about 30% fixed oil, etc. — 
U. Diuretic, demulcent and anthelmintic. Dose, in 
infusion, practically ad libitum. 
Pepo. 
jr. Pepo7iis Semen, Pumpkin Seed. — o. The seeds 
of Cucurbita Pepo; Cucurbitacece. — h. Cultivated. 
— ». The illustrations show seed, transverse section 
of same, and embryo, all natural size. Oval or ovate, 
flat, about 12 to 20 mm. long, whitish ; inodorous, 
taste insipid. — c. About 40 to 50% fixed oil, resin, 
proteids, starch, sugar, etc. 

— U. Taenifuge; best given 
by beating embryo to a 
pulp with sugar and mak- 
ing an emulsion which is to 
be taken without straining; 
or may be eaten raw like 

nuts. Dose : 25 to 75 grams. 

Stropliantlms. 
N. Strophanthus Seed. — o. The seeds of Strophan- 
tus Kombe; Apocynacece. — H. Tropical Africa. — 
». The illustration shows a whole seed deprived of its 
awn, as it comes into the trade; also, the kernel con- 
sisting of a sac-like albumen which envelops the 
embryo, the embryo separate, and a transverse sec- 
tion of the seed, all natural size. The seeds grow in 
pods and each seed is provided with an awn up to 10 
cm. long with a tuft of delicate white silky hair cov- 





520 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

ering its upper half; this awn and tuft of hairs is not 
present in the drug. The oblong- 
lanceolate seeds vary in length and 
are from 19 to 20 mm. long, 3 to 5 
mm. wide, and about 2 mm. thick, 
tapering towards both ends, usually 
flat, but sometimes rounded, brittle, 
easily broken, yellowish-brown with 
.occasionally a greenish tint, and covered with ap- 
pressed silky hairs; the white embryo consists of a rad- 
icle and two straight thin cotyledons and is enclosed 
in a white sac-like albumen; no odor, taste very bitter. 
— C Strophanthin. — u. Used in Africa to make an 
arrow poison; in medicine, as a heart sedative; in 
overdoses it is a powerful poison, paralyzing the 
respiratory muscles as well as the heart. The dose is 
uncertain, but may be stated to be from 5 to 10 
minims of a 5% tincture. 

The seeds of Str. hispidus and Str.dichotomus are 
more chestnut-brown and less hairy ; the seeds of 
Kicksia Africana are pointed at both ends and the 
cotyledons are irregularly folded. If a thin section 
of the true Kombe seed is placed on a microscope slide 
and a drop of concentrated sulphuric acid is added, 
the albumen or endosperm (and if the seeds are rich 
in strophantin, the embryo also) will be colored in- 
tensely green, which can be easily seen with a Cod- 
dington lens. 

Caffea. 

N. Caffece Fabce, Coffees Semen, Coffee. — o. The 
seeds of Coffea Arabica; Rubiacece. — h. Cultivated in 
most tropical and sub-tropical countries. — ». The il- 
lustrations show the whole seeds or beans, face and 
back, in natural size, and a transverse section show- 
ing the infolding of the seed-coats, enlarged; also a 
more highly magnified section of the seed-coats. 
Coffee beans are plano-convex, oval, with a groove 
the entire length of the flat surface, 8 to 12 mm. long 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



521 




greenish or bluish-brown; the bean consists mainly of 
a tough albumen, in one end (base) of which a small 
dicotyledonous embryo is situated; odor peculiar, 

faint before roast- 



ing, taste bitter 
and astringent. — 
C. About 0.8 to 1% 
caffeine, c a ff e o - 
tannic acid, etc. — 
U. Tonic and stini- 
u 1 a n t . Infusion 
of coffee is used as a daily drink by a large portion of 
the human race ; it moderates waste, improves diges- 
tion, produces mental exhilaration and physical activ- 
ity. No dose of this drug can be stated as it is habit- 
ually used in widely varying quantities by different 
persons. In opium poisoning large quantities of 
strong infusion of coffee should be given. 

Mocha Coffee, grown in Arabia, consists of very 
small beans of a dark color, very plump. It has a fine 
flavor and is much esteemed, and is often added to 
other kinds of coffee to improve the flavor of the 
infusion. 

Rio Coffee (South American or Rio Janeiro) is also 
comparatively small and dark-colored, but not so 
plump as Mocha, and has, when prepared for use, a 
stronger and less delicate flavor than other kinds of 
coffee. 

Java Coffee, with large, flattish, light-colored beans, 
has a fine, delicate flavor. 

Liberia (African) Coffee, which has the largest 
seeds of all, is also light-colored and has a fine flavor. 
These different varieties are seldom employed sep- 
arately, but are usually mixed in various proportions 
by the experts of the large coffee houses, to produce 
the so-called "blends" which are generally prefer- 
able to any one kind alone. For use, coffee must be 



522 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 




roasted or parched; this should be done as rapidly as 
possible without burning the coffee, until the seeds 
are fully brown but not black. The peculiar aroma is 
produced by this parching, so that if coffee is insuffi- 
ciently parched it will produce a disagreeable, insipid 
and somewhat bitter infusion, while if it is parched 
too much, it acquires an einpyreumatic and bitter 
flavor. 

StaplBisagria. 

Bf. Stavesacre. — o. The seeds of Delphinium Sta- 
phisagria; Ranunculacece . — 
M. Mediterranean countries. 
— ». The illustrations show 
a seed in natural size and en- 
1 a r g e d . Irregularly tetrahe- 
dral, flattish, angular, 5 to 7 
mm. long, externally brownish or brownish-gray, 
with reticulate ridges; the whitish oily albumen con- 
tains a small embryo at one end; odor slight, taste 
bitter and acrid. — c. Delphinine (delphisine), del- 
phinoidine, staphisain, fixed oil, etc. — u. Staphis- 
agria is said to possess diuretic, cathartic and emetic 
properties. Its principal use is local, to destroy para- 
sites and vermin. 

Sabadilla. 

jr. Cevadilla. — o. The ripe seeds of Schcenocaulon 

officinale (As ag- 
ree a officinalis}; 
Lilia c e ce. — h. 
Mexico and Cen- 
tral America. — ». 
The illustrations 
show a capsule and 
seed of cevadilla in 
natural size, and a 
capsule and trans- 
verse section of 
same, and a seed 
and longitudinal section of same, enlarged. The drug 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 523 

consists of opened and unopened capsules or follicles 
mixed with the loose seeds, but when wanted for use 
the follicles should be rejected. The thin brown fol- 
licles adhere to each other at the base and each con- 
tains from 1 to 6 seeds ; the seeds are lanceolate, an- 
gular, about 6 mm. long, 1.5 to 2 mm. thick at the 
thickest end, glossy brownish-black, with thin and 
finely wrinkled seed-coat; the white oily albumen 
contains a small embryo near the base ; the seeds, 
which alone contain the active constituents, are in- 
odorous, but have an acrid, persistent, bitter taste. 
— €. The alkaloids veratrine, cevadine, cevadilline, 
etc. — u. The seeds are poisonous. The action de- 
pends on the veratrine which they contain. Mainly 
used for the manufacture of veratrine and externally 
in ointment as a parasiticide to destroy lice and other 
vermin, and as a cure for itch. 

When taken internally it is a powerful irritant de- 
pressant; its dose should not exceed 0.05 to 0.1 gram, 
but its value as a remedial agent is doubtful and the 
possibility of untoward results so great that it is bet- 
ter to choose other remedies. In case of poisoning, 
the antidotal treatment consists in. evacuating and 
washing the stomach, giving tannic acid and stimu- 
lants, such as coffee, alcohol, etc., and applying 
warmth externally. 

Cydonium. 

N. Quince Seed. — o. The seeds of Cydonia vul- 
garis {Pyrus Cydonia); Rosacecz. — H. Cultivated. 
— ». The seeds resemble apple seeds, but in the 
fruit they are agglutinated as represented in d, and 
they often remain so in the drug; a shows a seed in 
natural size, c the same enlarged, and d a section of 
the seed-coats showing the outer epidermal cells 
which contain the mucilage. The seeds are ovate or 
ovate-oblong, triangularly compressed, about 8 mm. 
long, grayish-brown; the white embryo consists of 



524 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 




two cotyledons and a radicle; the whole seeds are 
odorless, but when chewed the 
embryo develops the odor and 
taste of bitter almonds. — c. 
The only important constitu- 
ent is the mucilage in the epi- 
thelium of the seed-coats; when 
the whole seeds are placed in 
water they swell, forming an 
insipid, clear mucilage. — u. 
The mucilage is used as a de- 
mulcent vehicle for other 
remedies, for similar purposes as the mucilage of 
sassafras pith or of acacia. It must be freshly made 
when wanted. 

Quince seeds must be clean, whole, sound and 
odorless ; they are sometimes mixed with apple or 
pear seeds in the drug, but the latter adulterations 
can be recognized by their smooth oval form, their 
glossy brown color and by the fact that they do not 
produce a mucilage. Quince seeds are covered with 
a grayish epithelium which makes them look as if 
they were slightly mouldy. 

Cncnmis. 

j*. Cucumeris Semen, Cucumber Seed. — o. The 
of Cucumis sativus; Cucurbitacecz. — h. Cul- 
tivated everywhere. — ». The illustrations 
show the whole seed and sections, all 
natural size ; in structure it is similar to 
pumpkin seed. Oblong-lanceolate, flat, 
thin, sharply two-edged, about 8 to 12 mm. long, 
whitish; inodorous and insipid. — c. Fixed oil, pro- 
teids, etc. — u. Cucumber seed is similar to water- 
melon seed in action, diuretic, demulcent and anthel- 
mintic. Dose : 10 to 50 grams in infusion. A demul- 
cent ointment is made by boiling cucumber seeds (or 
cucumber) in lard and straining. 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



525 



Abrus. 

nr. Jequirity Bean, Prayer Beads. — o. The seed of 
Abrus precatorius; Leguminosce. — BE. East India. — 
i>. The illustrations show a whole 
seed, a transverse section of same, 
and an embryo, all in natural size. 
Nearly globular, about 6 to 8 mm. long, very hard, 
glossy scarlet-red with a black spot at the hilum ; em- 
bryo consists of two plano-convex cotyledons and a 
short curved radicle; no odor, taste insipid. — c. 
Abric acid, fixed oil, 2 proteids which are similar in 
action to snake venom although much weaker, fixed 
oil, etc. — u. A weak infusion is sometimes used as a 
stimulating irritant in chronic conjunctivitis or gran- 
ular eye-lids. 

Cardamomi Semen. 
N. Cardamom Seed. — o. The seeds of Elettaria 
repens; Scitaminecz. — h. Malabar, India; see also 
description of cardamom in Group LXII. — ». The 
seeds in each cell of the capsule of cardamom are 
mutually compressed into irregular angular shapes 
and adhere more or less firmly together, often re- 
maining so in the drug; the illustrations show the 
seeds, adhering as in the capsules and separated, in 
natural size and enlarged, and 
also longitudinal and trans- 
verse sections enlarged, show- 
ing the embryo in the large 
albumen. The seeds are ir- 
regularly angular, about 3 mm. 
long, with a grooved hilum, 
externally brownish-y e 1 1 o w r , 
deeply wrinkled and with fur- 
furaceous shreds of arillus ad- 
hering; odor fragrant, taste 
pungently spicy and aromatic. — c. Four to 5 % vola- 
tile oil, some fixed oil, etc. — u. Stimulant carmin- 




526 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 




ative and stomachic, but used mainly as a flavor or 
spice. 

The seeds of other varieties of cardamom, such as 
Madras, Ceylon, Java or round, etc., resemble those 
described above in appearance, but are less aromatic. 
On account of the difficulty of determining the ab- 
sence of a possible admixture of these inferior seeds, 
it is best to buy the whole cardamoms and shell them 

oneself. 

ColcMci Semen. 

BT. Colchicum Seed. — o. The seeds of Colchicam 
autumnale; Liliacecz. — m. Europe. — i>. The illustra- 
tions show whole 
seed, natural size 
and enlarged, and 
section, also en- 
larged. Sub-globu- 
lar, about 2 to 3 mm. 
in diameter, finely 
pitted, reddish-brown ; seed consists mainly of albu- 
men, enclosing a small embryo; very hard and 
tough ; no odor, taste bitter acrid. — c. Two-tenths 
to 0.3% colchicine, 6 to 8% fixed oil, etc. — u. 
Cathartic and diuretic, mainly used as an arthritic 
in gout and rheumatism. The seeds are about double 
the strength of the tubers. Dose : 0.05 to 0.3 gram. 
Stramonfi Semen. 
UT. Stramonium Seed. — o. The seeds of Datura 
Stramonium; Solanacece. — h. America, Europe, 

Asia; common weed 
nearly everywhere. 
— j>. The illustra- 
tions show the seed, 
whole in natural 
size and enlarged, 
and longitudinal and transverse sections, both en- 
larged. Kidney-shaped, flattened, about 3 mm. long, 
pitted and wrinkled, hard, brownish-black to almost 




NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 527 

black ; a large whitish and oily albumen contains the 
curved embryo, as shown in the sections of the seed ; 
inodorous, bitter. — c. About 0.1% daturine, about 
25% fixed oil, etc. — u. Anodyne, narcotic and hyp- 
notic. Dose : 0.05 to 0.2 gram. 

Poisonous in over-doses; antidotal treatment: evac- 
uation and washing of stomach, stimulants such as 
coffee, alcoholic liquors, alternately hot and cold 
douches, etc. 

Hyoseyaiiii Semen. 

N. Henbane seed. — o. The seeds of Hyoscyamus 
niger; Solanacece. — he. Europe and Asia; naturalized 

in North America. — ». 
The drawings show a 
whole seed and a longi- 
tudinal section of one, 
both much enlarged. 
Flattish, roundish or 
slightly kidney-shaped, 
1 to 1.5 mm. long, reticulately wrinkled, gray or yel- 
lowish-gray ; internally whitish; the curved embryo 
is enclosed in an oily albumen; no odor, taste oily 
and bitter acrid. — c. Two alkaloids, hyoscyamine 
and hyoscine, a glucoside, about 25% fixed oil, etc. — 
U. Same as of the leaves, but from 4 to 10 times as 
active. Anodyne, narcotic and hypnotic. Poison- 
ous in large doses ; antidotal treatment same as for 
stramonium seeds. Dose : 0.1 to 0.2 gram. 
liObeHae Semen. 
N. Lobelia Seed. — o. The seeds of Lobelia infiata; 
Lobeliacecz. — h. North America. — ». The figures 
show a whole seed and a seed in 
longitudinal section, enlarged about 
H f % I (If ^ diameters. In bulk the drug 
looks like a reddish-brown to dark- 
brown powder, but with a Codding- 
ton lens the appearance of the indi- 
vidual seeds is readily discerned. The seed is very 






528 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

small, oblong or elliptic, about 0.75 mm. long and 0.3 
mm. broad, reticulated, the longitudinal ridges being 
united by rather regular transverse ridges, giving the 
seed the appearance as if enclosed in a delicate bas- 
ket or wicker-work ; the dicotyledonous embryo im- 
bedded in a copious albumen ; no odor, taste acrid. 

— C. Same as of lobelia, lobeline, lobelic acid, etc. 

— U. Same as of lobelia; sialagogue, expectorant, 
emetic, narcotic and purgative ; in large doses power- 
fully depressant. Dose: 0.05 to 0.5 gram. 

Papaveris Semen. 
w. Poppy Seed, Maw Seed. — o. The seeds of the 
white variety of Papaver somniferum; Papaveracecz. 
-iv'S'/cn — HC- Asia Minor and India ; cultivated. 
V» (lffll\ — **• -^ ne illustrations show seeds in 
natural size and one seed, whole and 
longitudinal section, much enlarged. 
Poppy seeds are kidney-shaped, about 1 mm. long, 
pitted, cream-colored or whitish ; the white, oily 
albumen contains the slightly curved embryo; no 
odor, taste nutty oily. — c. About 50% of fixed oil, 
traces of morphine, etc. — u. As food, mainly. As a 
demulcent in emulsion. Dose : 2 to 5 grams. 

Delphinium. 

N. Larkspur Seed. — o. The seeds of Delphinium 
Consolida; Ranunculacecz. — h. Europe ; cultivated. 

— », The illustrations show a whole seed, natural 
size and enlarged, and a longitudinal section, en- 
larged. Small, obscurely tetrahedral, about 1.5 to 2 
mm. long, externally rough-warty, blackish; in- 
ternally whitish, the oily 
albumen enclosing a small 
embryo; no odor, taste bitter 
acrid. — c. An alkaloid, del- 
phinine, some fixed oil, resin, 

9 ^HP' ^S^gfpT e f- c# — ^ Antispasmodic in 

asthma; diuretic, cathartic, in large doses emetico- 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



529 



cathartic and poisonous; externally rubefacient. 
Dose: 0.06 to 0.2 gram. 

Piper Alburn. 

White Pepper, while really more than a seed be- 
cause the outer portion merely of the pericarp was re- 
moved, so that the pulp and the fibrovascular bundles 
of the pericarp still enclose the seed proper, yet looks 
so much like a seed that it will probably be looked 
for here by many. It is therefore mentioned in the 
synopsis of the group, but it has been fully described 
and figured in Group LXV. 

Ianum. 
N. Linseed, Flax Seed. — o. The seed of Linum 
usitatissimum ; Linece. — h. Cultivated in most 
temperate countries. — ». The illustrations show the 

seeds in natural 
size and en- 
larged, and also 
in longitudinal 
and transverse 
sections, en- 
larged. The 
seeds are ovate, 
obliquely pointed at one end, flattened, about 4 to 5 
mm. long, externally glossy brown, internally yel- 
lowish-white; the large embryo consists of two cotyl- 
edons and a radicle,- surrounded by a thin, almost 
membranous albumen that is more likely to be con- 
sidered as one of the seed-coats than as albumen ; no 
odor, taste mucilaginous, oily and disagreeable. — 
C. About 15% mucilage in the epithelium, from 30 to 
40% fixed oil in the inner portion (embryo and albu- 
men) of the seed, proteids, some resin, etc. — u. The 
ground seeds are used for poultices; an infusion is 
sometimes made of the whole seeds. Demulcent. 
Dose: Ad libitum, as infusion. 





530 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Sinapis Nigra. 

N. Black Mustard. — o. The seeds of Brassica 
(Sinapis) nigra; Crucifercz. 
— H. Cultivated. — ». The 
illustration shows a seed 
enlarged, with its circular 
hilum; also a transverse 
section and two views of 
the embryo, showing one 
cotyledon wrapped about 
the other. Almost globular, 
about 1 mm. in diameter, 
with circular hilum, externally reddish-black and 
finely pitted, internally oily and greenish-yellow; no 
odor when dry, but on moistening it develops an ex- 
tremely pungent and irritating odor; taste pungently 
acrid, aromatic. — t£. About 25% fixed oil; sinigrin 
or potassium myronate, myrosin, mucilage, etc. 
When moistened, black mustard emits a strong irri- 
tant odor due to tho volatile oil of mustard formed 
from the sinigrin by the action of myrosin in the 
presence of water. — u. Aromatic stimulant when 
eaten; in large doses (10 to 15 grams mixed with 
copious draughts of water) ground mustard is a 
prompt and efficacious emetic ; especially indicated in 
cases of poisoning because usually at hand every- 
where. Externally a poultice made of ground mus- 
tard and luke-warm (not hot) water is a valuable 
rubefacient and counter-irritant. Its main use is as a 
condiment. 

Sinapis Alba. 
X. White Mustard. — o. The seeds of 
Brassica (Sinapis) alba; Crucifercz. — 
H. Cultivated. — ». The illustrations 
show a seed in natural size and en- 
larged; the embryo is like that of black 
mustard, only larger and with a somewhat larger 
radicle proportionately ; in many of the seeds the seed- 




NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 531 

coats appear as if tightly stretched around the embryo 
so that the shape of the latter gives shape to the seed. 
Oval, almost globular, slightly compressed, about 1.5 
to 2 mm. long, finely pitted or almost smooth, with a 
small hilum at one end and a more or less distinctly 
marked ridge over the radicle the full length of the 
seed, pale yellowish to yellowish-brown externally 
and yellowish within; inodorous when dry, but with 
strong characteristic odor when moistened; the taste 
is pungently aromatic, similar to that of black mus- 
tard, but weaker. — c. Like those of black mustard. — 
U. Mainly as a condiment and spice. 

Semen Rapae. 
jr. Rape Seed. — o. The seeds of Brassica Napus; 
Cmciferce. — h\ Cultivated. — d. The shape of rape 
seed is like that of white mustard seed, the ridge 
over the curved radicle usually being very distinct. 
"German" rape seed averages about 1.5 mm. in diam- 
eter and is nearly smooth, though not glossy, and 
varies in color from deep red to nearly black. "Eng- 
lish" rape seed is similar in shape, a trifle larger than 
the German, and of more uniform color, reddish- 
black; the embryo is formed like that of black mus- 
tard. Odor, taste and constituents similar to those of 
mustard. — u. Used as one ingredient of "mixed 
bird seeds". 

Fcennm Graeoniii. 

N. Fenugreek. — o. The seeds of Trigonella Fcenum 
Grczcum; Leguminosce. — H. India; cultivated in 
Mediterranean countries. — 
D. The illustrations show the 
whole seed, in natural size 
and enlarged ; also transverse 
and longitudinal sections, en- 
larged. " Almost"~cubical, or oblong quadrangular, 
four-edged, about 3 to 4 mm. long and about 2 mm. 
broad, hard, with a projection on one side reaching 




532 ' NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

from one end to a little more than half-way along the 
side of the seed ; yellowish-brown to brownish; the 
embryo consists of two cotyledons, and a large radi- 
cle which is contained in the projection on one side, 
and a horny albumen which is small in amount and 
considered by some to be seed-coat and not albumen 
at all; peculiar odor and bitter mucilaginous taste. — 
C. The important ingredients are fixed oil and mucil- 
age. — u. Powdered fenugreek is sometimes used to 
make emollient poultices, but is mainly employed in 
veterinary practice as a demulcent ; it is a common 
ingredient of "condition powders". 



GROUP LXVII. 

COTYLEDONS OR SEED-LEAVES. 

The embryos of dicotyledonous seeds without albu- 
men consist of two cotyledons or seed-leaves united 
at the base, and with a rudimentary nipple-like pro- 
jection at one end, the root or radicle; sometimes 
there may be found between the two seed-leaves a 
rudimentary leafy branch, the plumule. When seeds 
are opened and their seed-leaves are prepared for the 
trade by removing the seed-coats, they belong in this 
group; they are then occasionally called "semina 
decorticata" . Within the last few years kola, a drug, 
one variety of which consists of the cotyledons of a 
poly-cotyledonous seed, has also occurred in the 
trade. 

Ovate, fleshy, plano-convex cotyle- 
dons, about 2.5 to 3 cm. long and 

half as broad ; yellowish Qnercns Semen. 

Elongated, fleshy, plano-convex co- 
tyledons, up to 4 cm. long; brown- 
ish-black Piclmrlm majns. 

Similar to last, but only about 2 
cm. long, ovate ; brownish-black. Picimrim minus. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



533 



Round, nattish-ovate, plano-con- 
vex, or irregular, somewhat con- 
torted cotyledons; brownish or 

reddish-brown Cola. 

Qtiercits Semen. 
N. Glandes Quercus, Acorns. — o. The separated 
cotyledons of the seeds of Quercus Robur and Q. 
Sessiliflora; Cupulifercz. — m. Europe. — ». The 

illustrations show 
the whole fruit of 
Q. Robur, and the 
cotyledons, outer 
and inner surfaces 
and transverse 
section, all natural 
size. Only the co- 
tyledons occur in 
the trade; they 
are thick plano- 
convex, oblong or 
ovate, about 3 cm. long and 1J cm. broad, yellowish 
to yellowish-brown ; no odor, taste bitter and astrin- 
gent. — c e About 9% tannic acid, bitter extractive, 
resin, oil, starch, etc. — n. The drug is roasted or 
parched like coffee, and is used as a substitute for 
coffee, especially when the latter is contra-indicated 
in nervous affections, 

Glandes Quercus are quoted whole in the price- 
lists of European dealers in drugs, but are probably 
seldom imported into this country otherwise than 
roasted and ground. They are seldom used in this 
country, parched rye being more commonly used as a 
substitute for coffee. The parched and ground drug 
is commonly known as "glandules quercus tostce" . 

Pitfuirim. 

N. Pichury, Semen Pichurim, Fabce Pichurim, 
Pichurim Beans, Sassafras Nuts. — o. The cotyle- 




534 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

dons of the seeds of Nectandra Puchury; Laurinece. 

P. 




H. Venezuela, Brazil, and other parts of South 
America. — ». There are two varieties of Pichurim 
beans, which are the product of the same variety of 
tree, the difference in size being due probably to 
differences in soil or climate or both, the "fabcz 
pichurim majores" and ' l fab ce pichurim minores" , or 
larger and smaller pichurim beans ; the illustrations 
give a good idea of shape and size, a showing the 
outer and b the inner surfaces of a cotyledon of the 
smaller kind, c a transverse section of the same, and 
d the outline of a cotyledon of the larger kind show- 
ing position of plumule; blackish-brown externally, 
lighter-colored internally ; odor and taste aromatic, 
reminding of nutmeg and saffron. — c. 2 to 3% 
volatile oil, about 30% fixed oil or fat, resin, coloring 
matter, etc. — u. In South America they are used 
like we use nutmegs, as a condiment or spice ; also as 
a stimulant aromatic in cases of bowel affections, 
diarrhoea, dysentery, etc. Seldom used in this coun- 
try. Dose: 0.5 to 1.5 grams, in powder. 
Cola. 
N. Kola, Nuces Cola, Semen Cola, Cola, or Kola 
Nuts, Guru Nuts. (The Guinea name Kola or Cola 
is indeclinable and neuter in Latin). — o. The cotyl- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



535 



edons of several varieties of Cola, Sterculia (Cola) 
acuminata and St. vera; Autacola. — h. Native of 
Africa, but cultivated in tropical countries. — d. 
The seeds of Sterculia vera have two roundish, 




rather flattish, plano-convex cotyledons, the inner 
surface of one of which is figured in the smaller 
drawing; the seeds of St. acuminata have four 
cotyledons, which, when separated and dried as in 
the drug, are irregularly contorted or twisted, as 
shown in the larger figures ; all the figures are of nat- 
ural size ; when fresh, both varieties are carmine-red, 
but in the drug the color is brown to brownish-black, 
some pieces occasionally showing reddish, liver-col- 
ored or yellowish-brown patches; both kinds are very 
hard, and without odor or taste. — c. The only con- 
stituent of value is caffeine, of which the drug con- 
tains from 0.75 to 2%. — u. Similar to that of- coffee, 
tea, guarana, etc. Dose : About 10 grams during the 
day. 

GROUP LXVI II. 

ARILLI OR ADVENTITIOUS SEED-COATS. 

In the general remarks on seeds we studied the 
structure of seeds and learned that the two ovule- 
coats develop into seed-coats. Sometimes, in addi- 



536 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



tion to these coats which fit snugly around the em- 
bryo or albumen, and which are usually closely 
adherent, although not always united, there may be 
adventitious growths of cell-proliferations from the 
funiculus, more rarely from the placenta, which form 
another, apparently a third, or adventitious seed- 
coat, but this coat rarely fits closely, but is easily 
separable. Such an adventitious seed-coat is called 
an arillus or aril. 

Fleshy, irregularly lobed and cleft bands, 
orange-brown; fragrant Macis. 




NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



537 



Mads. 

N. Mace. — o. The arillus of Myristica fragrans; 
Myristicacecs. — h. India, Philippines, Molucca and 
Banda Islands, West Indies, South America; culti- 
vated. — i>. The fruit of this tree resembles a small 
peach in appearance; the fleshy outer portion be- 
comes dry and coriaceous when ripe and separates 
into two valves, exposing to view a scarlet-red mem- 
branous arillus which surrounds the kernel or seed; 
the kernel, which is the nutmeg, is enclosed in a 
thin, glossy, brown shell, and the latter is sur- 




rounded by the arillus just mentioned. The illustra- 
tions show a seed enclosed by the arillus, and the 
latter separated as it occurs in the trade, both in 
natural size. The arillus separated from the seed 
and dried, becomes flattened as in the figure ; it is 
multi-cleft almost to the base, into a number of lobes 
and each lobe in turn is more or less irregularly cleft 
into flattish, broad or narrow, wavy or contorted 
bands ; the larger drawing shows an unbroken piece 
of mace spread out after having been softened by 
soaking in water, in natural size; orange-brown, 
somewhat brittle and often broken ; odor and taste 
fragrant, aromatic. — c. 7 to 9% volatile oil, fixed 
oil, some resin, etc. — u. As a condiment or spice; 
stimulant, carminative. Dose : 0.5 to 1.5 grams. 



538 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

PARTS OP PLANTS NOT EASILY RECOGNIZABLE 
AS SUCH. 

We come now to the last general group of vege- 
table drags showing organic or cell structure, which 
we divide as follows : 

Parts of plants not eas- [ ^ ole -- • • \ • • • • • _• ■ £9. 

ilv recognizable as I Cufc ' or otherwise altered.. 70. 
y recognizable as <j Trichomes 7L 

sucn I Excrescences 72. 

These groups contain a heterogeneous collection of 
drugs which have no relations to one another, except 
that it may be difficult for someone to make out just 
what they are, or from what part of a plant they are 
derived. Some may perhaps think that drugs are 
enumerated here that should not be included ; for in- 
stance, many would easily recognize cloves as an un- 
opened flower, while others, not as good botanists, 
might be puzzled to place them in their proper group. 
But it is thought better to include too many rather 
than too few drugs here, and therefore, as far as pos- 
sible, all drugs that may prove difficult for someone 
are placed in one of these groups. It is better to 
make things too plain and simple, than to fail to give 
the information sought. 

In Group LXIX are included a few drugs which are 
"cut or otherwise altered", which would make them 
belong in Group LXX, as for instance, squill, saffron, 
pearled barley, spunk, etc. ; but some may not notice 
that these were cut, because superficial inspection 
does not always make this unmistakably clear. 
Therefore such drugs are included in both groups. 

Many of the trichomes, or epidermal appendages or 
outgrowths, such as glands or hairs, are whole, but 
they are not included in Group LXIX, because even 
a careless examiner will probably place them in 
Group LXXI, even if it is impossible from such a 
careless examination to determine exactly what any- 
one particular drug of the group may be. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 539 

Drugs are described in the groups in which they 
properly belong, but many are enumerated in such 
groups where beginners, students, or unskilful and 
inexperienced pharmacognocists may erroneously 
suppose that they should be found. These notes are 
intended to enable a student to recognize drugs; 
scientifically and systematically, if possible, but if 
necessary, "any old way", just so he learns to recog- 
nize drugs. 

GROUP LXIX. 

PARTS OP PLANTS, XOT EASILY RECOGNIZABLE AS SUCH; 
WHOLE. 

The numbers after the names of the drugs refer to 

the pages on which they are described. 

Filiform, much-branched, horny, 
translucent thallus Chondrns, 116. m 

Dark-brown or nearly black thal- 
lus with large air-vesicles Fucus, 117. 

Long, round, stem-like, but with- 
out nodes and without cell-differ- 
entiation within liaminaria, 118. 

Mixture of several small sea-weeds. corsican 3i©ss, 119 

Irregularly lobed lichens, brown- 
ish-gray above and grayish- white 
below Cetraria, 120. 

Flat, brown lichen, with oval 
prominences on one side and 
corresponding depressions on the 
other side Sticta, 121. 

Fusiform, purplish-black grains, 
from 2 to 5 cm. long Ergota, 122. 

Irregular brown-black masses, 
partly membranaceous, partly 
pulverulent Fstiiag-o, 124. 

White, tough, light masses or frag- 
ments. Agaricus, 125. 



540 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Brown, pliable, velvety sheets spunk, 125. 

Semi-fluid, viscid, frothy substance. Yeast, 126, 541. 
Eound, dark-brown masses, pul- 
verulent within Pnff-Ball, 126. 

Light-yellow, very mobile and in- 
flammable powder Ijycopodium, 127. 

Flattish rhizomes, lobed, peeled, 
brownish, yellowish, or white 
from being ]imed zingiber, 250. 

Narrow slices, up to 5 cm. long and 
10 to 15 mm. wide ; thickest in 
middle ; yellowish-white. .... — Sciiia, 271 

Slender cylindrical, sometimes 
curved pieces, spongy, white Sassafras Pith, 285 

Similar to last, but thicker and 
yellowish in color Elder Pith, 286. 

Elongated, somewhat angular, 
scaly, unopened flower-heads, 2 
to 3 mm. long ; grayish-gi een Santonica, 416. 

Sub-cylindrical calyx-tubo with 
four teoth, terminated by a 
corolla forming a globular 
head ; brown ; fragrant Caryophyllus, 422. 

Separate stigmas, or 3 attached 
to a style, linear-tubular, 
about 3 cm. long; deep red- 
dish-brown. ... Crocus, 436. 

Cylindrical, about 4 to 5 cm. 
long and 5 mm. thick, spirally 
nodulated, stalked, grayish- 
brown Piper Lonpim, 453. 

Oval or round grains, 2 to 4 mm. 
long, yellowish- white, whiter 
at ends, yellowish-brown 
groove along one Side Pearled Barley, 503. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 541 

Ovate, fleshy, plano-convex co- 
tyledons, about 2.5 to 3 cm. 
long and half as broad; yel- 
lowish Acorns, 533. 

Elongated or ovate, fleshy, 
plano-convex cotyledons, from 
2 to 4 cm. long; brownish- 
black Pichtirim, 533. 

Fleshy, irregularly lobed and 
cleft bands, orange-brown; 

fragrant JIace, 537. 

Round, hard, more or less nodu- 
lated, about 2 cm. in diameter; 

dark-colored Galls, 555. 

Irregularly lobed, hollow, thin- 
walled shells Chinese Galls, 556. 

Round, spongy, orange or yel- 
lowish-brown, up to 5 cm. or 

more in diameter American Galls, 557. 

Fermentnni. 
Fermentum, or Yeast, has already been described 
under Group XII; the 
frothy semi-fluid there de- 
scribed is the foam in which 
this substance is sometimes 
administered internally in 
some forms of fermentative 
dyspepsia and apepsia. The 
shape of yeast-cells, is here shown. For ordinary use, 
as when yeast is employed in tests, for instance the 
quantitative fermentation test for sugar in the urine, 
it is more convenient to use "compressed yeast"; 
this is made by separating the liquid from ordinary 
brewers' yeast by a centrifuge and cutting the thick 
pasty mass thus obtained into small cubes, which oc- 
cur in the trade wrapped in tinfoil. This is also the 
form in which yeast is now most frequently employed 
in the household for baking. 




542 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

GROUP LXX. 

PARTS OF PLANTS NOT READILY RECOGNIZABLE AS SUCH ; 
CUT OR OTHERWISE ALTERED. 

This group includes drugs which are sliced, 
trimmed, peeled, or cut up into small pieces ; also 
such, like the seeds of Paullinia, bruised into a pulp 
and formed into cylindrical rolls or flat cakes, wood 
charred to charcoal, etc. The main characteristic of 
this group, as distinguished from the last, is that 
drugs of this group show unmistakably that they 
were thus altered, while some of the drugs of the last 
group may also have been altered but do not show it 
so plainly. 

Most of the drugs of this group have already been 
described, and the numbers following their names 
refer to the pages where this occurs; a few are 
here described for the first time, however, because 
they never come into trade otherwise than as thus 
altered. Cut woods and parts of fruits, etc., which 
are readily recognizable as such, are not mentioned 
here because it is easy to refer to the proper group 
at once. 

Cylindrical or cake-like masses, 
very hard, reddish-brown; 
odorless Gnarana. 

Black pieces, having the struct- 
ure of wood, but consisting 
mainly of carbon; or black, 
odorless and tasteless powder, 
not gritty Carbo lAgni. 

Irregular brown-black masses, 
partly membranaceous, partly 
pulverulent Ustiiago, 124. 

White, tough, light masses Agaric, 125. 

Thin, brown, pliable, velvety 

Sheets Spunk, 125. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 543 

Small, conical, light-brown, 
peeled, or glossy, dark-brown, 
unpeeled pieces of fronds 
mixed with pieces of rhizome. Aspidinm, 129, 547. 

Fragments of light porous roots, 
with thin grayi3h-brown bark, 
under which is a net- work of 
lighter-colored fibro-vascular 
bundles . M ethysticum, 176. 

Short, brownish-gray sections, 
wood spongy and bark easily 
separable, and flaring at cut 
ends Stillingia, 182. 

Tough, spongy sections with ir- 
regular bundles Snmbnl, 190. 

Transverse and longitudinal sec- 
tions of a thick, fleshy root 
with radiating bundles ; gray- 
ish-brown. . . Inula, 194. 

Large, round or plano-convex, 
orange-yellow pieces of root, 
peeled Rheum, 205. 

Transverse sections, greenish- 
gray outer surface, yellowish 
on cut surfaces . . Calnmba, 208. 

Grayish-white transverse sec- 
tions, hard, with prominent 
radiating and concentric line S.Bryonia, 209. 

Decorticated roots, externally 
and internally white, mealy 
and fibrous Althaea, 210. 

Small, cubical, white pieces, 
about 3 to 4 mm. in size ; pecu- 
liar odor Althaea, 210. 

Longitudinal and transverse 
sections, with projecting white 
wood-bundles alternating with 
yellowish-gray parenchyma. Phytolacca? Radix, 210 



544 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY, 

Obconical, blackish- gray, with 
shriveled lighter-colored root- 
lets ; sometimes cut into halves 
or quarters longitudinally, or 
into transverse slices Veratrnm Viride, 220. 

Obconical to sub-globular, an- 
nulate, orange-brown; some- 
times cut into transverse slices 
which are grayish-brown ; 
slices sometimes strung on 

Strings Trillium, 223. 

Longitudinal slices of rhizome, 
yellowish-brown, whitish 
within; show traces of nodes. Poiygonatum, 225. 

Long, slender, yellowish-brown 
longitudinal slices of rhizome ; 
in section piano or concavo- 
convex ; taste aromatic Calamus, 246. 

Thin, straw-like pieces, hollow, 

about 1 Cm. long Tritieum, 248. 

Slender, nearly straight pieces, 
smoothly trimmed, 6 to 8 cm. 
long, white or cream-white, 
perforated at one end Finger Orris, 255, 547. 

Ovate orange-brown disks or 
longitudinal slices of a thick 
rhizome ; or circular trans- 
verse slices; odor and taste re- 
sembling ginger Zedoaria, 257. 

Kidney-shaped grayish-w h i t e 

Slices Colcnici Radix, 267. 

Transverse slices with dark- 
gray epidermis and mealy- 
white surfaces Arum, 269. 

Narrow slices, up to 5 cm. long, 
10 to 15 mm. broad, yellowish, 
diaphanous, brittle SciUa, 272. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 545 

Short, pale, grayish-green pieces 
of twigs, with smooth-cut 

ends ; usually hollow Dulcamara, 283. 

Slender, cylindrical, sometimes 
curved pieces, spongy or pithy, 

white Sassafras Medulla, 285. 

An irregularly coarse, grayish- 
brown powder, mixed with 

many tough coarse fibers Qucrcus Alba, 371. 

Leaves rolled into small pellets 
or cylinders; grayish-green, 

bluish-green to blackish Thea, 383. 

Separate stigmas, or three at- 
tached to a style, linear-tubu- 
lar, about 3 cm. long; deep 
orange-brown with reddish 

tinge Crocus, 436. 

Oval grains about 3 to 4 mm. 
long, or round grains half as 
large, yellowish-white, whiter 
at ends, yellowish-brown 

groove along one side. . . . Hordenm Perlatum, 503. 
Orange-red, irregularly lobed, 
fleshy bands ; fragrant ; often 

broken Mads, 537. 

For some of these drugs only the reference to the 
proper page is necessary ; in regard to others, a few 
remarks in addition to what has already been said 
may be of help. And some of the drugs belong in 
this group and nowhere else, and these are described 
in full here. 

Guarana. 
N. Guarana. — o. A dried paste consisting mainly 
of the crushed or pounded seeds of Paullinia Cupana 
(P. sorbilis); Sapindacece. — a. Tropical South 
America, especially Brazil. — i>. Cylindrical sticks, 
rounded at the ends, looking somewhat like Bologna 
sausages, about 15 cm. long and 2.5 to 4 cm. thick, 



546 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

very hard, dark reddish-brown, slightly mottled and 
comparatively smooth; or in sub-globular or flattened 
cakes having the same external appearance as the 
sticks; fracture uneven, somewhat glossy, reddish- 
brown, but paler than the external surface, not homo- 
geneous, but mottled and marbled from fragments of 
seeds enclosed in their darker-colored seed-coats; 
odor feeble but peculiar, reminding of chocolate, and 
taste bitter astringent. — c. Partly soluble in alcohol 
or water, yielding a brown solution with either men- 
struum. The important constituent is caffeine, of 
which the drug contains from 4 to 5%. — u. Guarana 
resembles tea and coffee in its effects; it is used 
mainly to relieve sick headache. Dose : 1 to 5 grams, 
best in fluid extract or elixir. 

Carbo Ligrii. 
N. Charcoal, Vegetable Charcoal. — o. Charcoal 
prepared from soft wood, very finely powdered. The 
charcoal made from small willow or poplar shoots is 
most esteemed. — ». Charcoal retains the shape and 
structure of the wood from which it was prepared, 
but consists only of the carbon together with the 
mineral substances which constitute the ash when 
wood is burned. As usually met with by the retail 
pharmacist, vegetable charcoal is a fine black powder 
which should be free from grit, and should leave, 
when burned with free access of air, not more than 
7.5% of ash; tasteless and odorless. — c. If properly 
prepared it should contain no uncarbonized wood, 
which may be tested by boiling 1 gram of charcoal 
with a mixture of 3 cc. 5% solution potassium hy- 
drate (liquor potassae), and 5 cc. of water; after boil- 
ing for several minutes, filter ; complete carbonization 
is shown by the filtrate being colorless or nearly so. 
— C Used in the arts and manufacturing as a deodor- 
izer and decolorizer. When taken internally it ab- 
sorbs some of the gases and fluids in the alimentary 
tract, and is useful in heartburn, eructations of gases 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



547 



or sour fluid, flatulence and dyspepsia. Dose: One 
or two teaspoonfuls mixed with water. 




ASPIDIUM. 

Powdered vegetable charcoal may be readily dis- 
tinguished from powdered animal charcoal by inciner- 
ation, leaving less than 7.5% of ash, 
while animal charcoal leaves about 
85% of ash; moreover animal char- 
coal has a dull black color and is 

gritty. 

Aspidinm. 

The peeled stipes have been al- 
ready described and figured under 
| Group XV, but the arrangement of 
1 1 the bundles in the rhizome may be 
U seen from these drawings, which rep- 
resent a portion of the tip of a rhi- 
zome with the stipes trimmed off, and 
a piece which has been peeled and 
trimmed, such as is found in this drug 
when it comes into trade peeled. 

Finger Orris 
is herewith figured. As only choice 
pieces of the rhizome of Florentine Orris can furnish 




548 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

this kind of orris, it is sometimes considered to be a 
better variety than the ordinary drug; but for perfum- 
ery, etc., it is altogether unnecessary to use this drug. 
It is used only for teething infants, but the rubber 
ring is better and more cleanly. 



GROUP LXXI. 

TRICHOMES. 

The word "trichome" means an outgrowth from the 
epidermis-cells of the plant, and includes vegetable 
hairs in all their modifications, as root-hairs, woolly 
hairs, prickly hairs, glandular hairs and glands, sim- 
ple hairs, branched hairs, etc. ; vegetable hairs used in 
medicine are of single cell thickness, thus differing 
from corn-silk, for example, which might by some be 
mistaken for vegetable hairs ; sometimes a hair be- 
comes developed into a thickened portion, when it is 
a glandular hair, and in some cases the hair structure 
is no longer readily perceived for it has developed 
into a more or less rounded structure and is then 
called a gland. 

Only a careless observer might look here for saf- 
fron or corn-silk, but the spores of lycopodium and of 
corn-smut might very easily be mistaken for glands. 
All these substances are therefore mentioned here, 
with reference to the pages where they are described. 
The drugs of this group are best examined under a 
fairly high magnifying power of the microscope, al- 
though their identity can be established without 
this aid. 

Vegetable glands: 
Granular, mobile, brick-red pow- 
der ; no odor and little taste Kamala. 

Brownish-yellow to yellowish- 
brown powder; aromatic and 
bitter JLnpulfnnm. 



NCTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 549 

Vegetable hairs: 
Delicate white curling hairs, from 

2 to 4 cm. long Gossypinm. 

Glistening, brownish-red silky 
powder, consisting of hairs about 

2 to 3 mm. long Mncnna. 

Curling, glossy-brown, soft and 
delicate hairs, from 2.5 to 5 cm. 

long Penghawar, 132, 553. 

Liable to be taken for trichomes: 

Irregular, brown-black masses, 

partly membranaceous, partly 

pulverulent Ustuago, 124. 

Light-yellow, very mobile powder . Lycopodinm, 127. 

Hardly liable to mistake: 
Separate stigmas, or three attached 
to a style, linear-tubular, about 3 
cm. long ; deep orange-brown 

with reddish tinge Croons, 436. 

Tufts of soft, silky, thread-like, 
yellovish fibers, about 15 cm. 
long ; the ends often matted to- 
gether and dark-brown zea, 438. 

Kamala. 
N. Kamala, Glandules Rottlercz. — o. Glands and 
hairs from the capsules of Ma/lotus Philippinensis 
{Rottlera tinctoria); Enphorbiacecz. — H.India, 
China, Philippine Islands, etc. — ». To the unaided 
eye Kamala appears as a granular, mobile, brick-red 
powder, slightly gritty under the teeth ; burns similar 
to lycopodium when blown through a flame; not 
readily miscible with water; imparts but little color 
to water even when boiled in it, but yields a deep-red 
solution when alkalies are added, or in alcohol or 
ether ; under the microscope the powder is seen to 
consist of irregular oval or round glands (more or 



550 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



less opaque as in a) mixed with colorless or brownish 
hairs arranged in stellate clusters (d); when cleared 
with dilute liquor potasses the gland appears as in b y 
and when crushed under the cover-glass there are 
seen a colorless enveloping membrane and 60 to 80 




little bladder or sac-like vesicles which were attached 
to each other at a common center and which contain 
a red substance ; nearly devoid of odor and taste. 
— c. About 80% resin, rottlerin, etc. It should leave 
only about 3% of ash; a larger proportion of ash is 
due to adulteration with earthy matter, which some- 
times constitutes the bulk of the drug. — u. Taenicide 
and purgative. Dose : 5 to 10 grams. 

Very pronounced grittiness under the teeth should 
lead us to suspect adulteration; it is always best to 
examine this drug with the microscope to determine 

its quality. 

I^iipiiliiium. 

N. Lupulin. — o. Glands from the axis and bracts 

of hops, the strobiles of Hamulus Lupulus; Urti- 

cacece. — h. Cultivated. — 1>. When fresh, a golden- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



551 



yellow, afterwards brownish-yellow to orange-brown 
powder, consisting of minute 
granules or mushroom-shaped 
glands, which contain a yellow 
balsamic fluid in a reticulate 
cellular membrane; odor aro- 
matic, taste bitter. — c. 3% 
volatile oil, resin, etc.; should 
not yield more than about 10% 
of ash on incineration. — u. 

Stimulant tonic ; anodyne, especially on genito-urinary 

organs. Dose : 0.3 to 1 gram. 

Gossypium. 
w. Cotton. — o. Hairs from the seeds of Gossypium 

herbaceum; Malvacece. — h. Cultivated in tropical 





and sub-tropical countries. — i>. Delicate, white, soft, 
curling hairs, consisting of one-celled filaments vary- 
ing in length from about 2 cm. ( u short staple") to 4 
cm. ("long staple") and about 0.05 millimeter thick. 
These hairs are simple ceils and though round when 
fresh in the pod, collapse when gathered and dried, 
and then present a spiral and band-like appearance 
under the microscope. Odorless and tasteless, and 



552 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



insoluble in water, alcohol, ether and solutions of 
caustic alkalies. — c. Mainly cellulose, about 10% 
fixed oil and some inorganic matter ; it leaves about 
1.5% ash. — u. For preparing collodion, absorbent 
cotton and various surgical dressings ; also for filter- 
ing, etc. 

By boiling in weak solution of caustic lye the oil is 
saponified and removed, and this purified cotton is 
known as "absorbent cotton", because it absorbs 
moisture with great avidity. 

Mucima. 

jr. Pili Stizolobiiy Cowhage. — o. The hairs from 
the pods of Mucuna pruriens (Stizolobium pruriens} ; 
Leguminosce \ — h. East and West Indies. — ». Glis- 




tening, brownish-red, silky powder, seen under a 
lens to consist of stiff, pointed and barbed hairs 
about 2 to 3 mm. long; odorless; they penetrate the 
skin very readily and cause severe itching which is 
aggravated by rubbing or scratching, but is relieved 
by wetting with water which softens the hairs. — 
C. A little tannin and resin. — u. Formerly used as a 
vermifuge, but now seldom employed, except per- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 553 

haps by dishonest horse-traders who are said to 
make broken-down horses appear spirited by apply- 
ing cowhage to the anus or genitals. 
Pencil a war. 
N. This substance is known by various names : 
Pi It Cibotii, Penghawar Djambi, Cibotium, Paku- 
Kidang or Pulu. — o. and h. It consists of the hairs 
from the fronds of many varieties of ferns growing 
in Sumatra; mainly varieties of Cibotium, as C. 
Baromez, C. Djambianum y etc., all of which, as 
Berg conjectures, may be merely varieties of Poly- 
podium Baromez. Paku-Kidang is from Alsophila 
luriddy and other Javanese ferns. The hairs of 




Cibotium glaucum and other varieties of Cibotium 
come from the Sandwich Islands, and are known as 
Pulu or Pulu-Pulu. — ». All of these ferns yield 
hairs which resemble each other closely, the drug 
consisting of glossy, golden-yellow or bronze-colored, 



554 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

curled and jointed, several or many-celled hairs 
which are from 1.5 to 2 cm. long, collapsed or flat- 
tened in sach a way that the hairs appear to be 
twisted at the juncture of the separate cells ; odorless 
and tasteless. — c. A little tannin, resin, etc. — 
U. Hemostatic, acting probably mainly or altogether 
in a mechanical manner by affording support to a 
forming clot. 

GROUP LXXII. 

EXCRESCENCES OR GALLS. 

Galls are peculiar excrescences or tumors produced 
by the stings of various insects on many different 
plants; the female insect bores a hole with her 
ovipositor and deposits her eggs, and the stimulation 
or irritation produced thereby causes an abnormal 
cell-proliferation which results in the formation of 
the gall. Within this gall the ovum of the insect is 
hatched and forms a larva or grub which feeds on the 
surrounding vegetable tissue, so that a cavity is 
formed near or at the center of the gall ; the grub 
finally develops into a perfect fly or insect which 
eats its way out, so that a tubular canal is formed 
from the central cavity to the outer surface. 

It is sometimes stated that galls are best before the 
insect has eaten its way out ; those galls are supposed 
to be best which have no hole on the outer surface ; 
such galls are supposed to be the "blue", "green" or 
"black galls", while those with holes in them are 
supposed to be mainly "white galls". The writer is 
convinced that the gall (what there is left of it) after 
the insect has eaten a hole to the surface, is just the 
same as the gall without such a hole ; of course, it is 
lighter; but as with the man who bought a pound of 
Swiss cheese and complained of the large holes in it, 
and wastold by the grocer that after he had eaten 
the cheese he should return the holes and the grocer 
would return full value for whatever the holes might 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 555 

weigh, so the lightness of perforated galls is com- 
pensated for by the greater number to the pound ; 
what there is of the perforated gall is as good as an 
equal weight of one that is not perforated. When 
a gall is gathered and dried before the insect has 
matured the latter dies and the gall remains un- 
perforated. 

Bound, hard, more or less nodu- 
lated, about 2 cm. in diameter; 
dark-colored; often with round 

holes Galla. 

Irregularly lobed, hollow, thin- 
walled, slightly downy or 

smooth, brownish Chinese Galls. 

Similar to last, but hairy and 

grayish Japanese Galls. 

Round, spongy, orange or yellow- 
ish-brown, up to 5 cm. or more in 

diameter . American Galls. 

Galla. 

n. Galls, Nut-galls. — o. Excrescences on Quercus 
lusita?iica (Cupulifercz) caused by the punctures 




made by the female of Cynips Galla tinctorial, while 
depositing her eggs. — h, The Levant. — b. The 



556 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

illustrations show galls whole and in section, with 
and without holes, all natural size. Galls are globu- 
lar, about 1 to 2 cm. in diameter, nodulated on side 
opposite point of attachment, otherwise smooth, 
heavy, hard, often with a perforation extending from 
the central cavity; externally dark olive-green, or 
bluish-brownish-green, or blackish-green ; internally 
yellowish-gray, darker towards center; fracture brit- 
tle and granular; the cavity in center has a hard wall 
and occasionally contains a dead grub or imperfectly 
developed insect, or in case the insect has escaped, 
the debris caused by it; odor none and taste very as- 
tringent. — c. From 40 to 75% tannin and 2 to 3% 
gallic acid, etc. — u. Astringent. Dose: 0.5 to 1 gram. 
Mainly used for making tannic and gallic acids. 

Dark-colored and heavy nut-galls are usually good, 
and light-colored, light and spongy galls are usually 
inferior. This difference does not appear to be de- 
pendent on whether the gall is perforated or not, and 
there is no difference between galls with holes and 
without holes, other things being equal. 

Aleppo (or Syrian) galls are best, and these are 
figured above. 
For the manufacture of tannic and gallic acids 
galls from different sources 
are also employed. For in- 
stance, Chinese galls which 
are hollow, irregularly 
lobed, thin-walled, usually 
grayish-brown and slightly 
downy, nearly smooth; see 
illustration in natural size. 
Japanese galls resemble 
the Chinese, but are rather 
more downy, and grayish 
in color; both are occasion- 
ally closed and peduncled 
at base. 




NCTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 557 

American galls from Quercus lobata, are large, up 
to 5 cm. in diameter, orange or yellowish-brown, 
spongy and very astringent. Galls from sumach and 
other plants are also employed in manufacture and 
in tanning, but only the Aleppo (Syrian) oak-galls 
described above are of special interest to the pharma- 
cist. 

VEGETABLE DRUGS WITHOUT CELLULAR . STRUCTURE. 

A small portion, the merest shred, of a cellular 
drug put on a microscope slide and cleared with a 
drop of liquor potassae, covered with a cover-glass, 
then examined under the microscope, will show cel- 
lular structure ; if it does not show this, it is a drug 
showing no cellular structure, and may be either an 
animal or a vegetable drug. If of animal origin, it 
will probably cause a strong or disagreeable odor 
when burned on a hot stove lid, or in a flame, while 
if it is a vegetable drug, the products of combustion 
are odorless, or at least not of the peculiar character 
which distinguishes burning animal matter; the test 
being, in fact, the same that is applied by every 
housewife to determine whether the cloth she has 
bought, or of which she has a sample, is really 
woollen or not. The test is not always applicable, 
however, because a few animal substances may pro- 
duce little or no odor on burning, while the reverse is 
true in regard to a few vegetable drugs. 

However, the test will almost always enable us to 
say whether the non- cellular drug under examination 
is a vegetable drug or not, the microscope having de- 
termined already that it is non-cellular. 

The drugs of this general class may be divided into 
two subdivisions, according to their appearance under 
the microscope, for some of them show regular and 
organic structure, although not cell- structure: 

Non-cellular vegetable dra g s{^^ nU /74to-S 



558 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

GROUP LXXI I I. 

DEFINITE GRANULES UNDER MICROSCOPE. 

This group comprises the starch grains; as these 
are only part of the cell-contents, and as "cellular 
structure" means "composed of cells", it is evident 
that starches have no cellular structure, although 
they have organic structure. 

The nature of starch and its relation to the plant 
economy is supposed to have been studied in the les- 
sons on botany, but a few words of recapitulation will 
not be amiss. Starch is plant-food which is stored up 
for future use. It is formed from the inorganic food 
of the plant by the chlorophyll-bodies in sunlight ; it 
ceases to be formed when the plant is in the dark. 
After having been formed in the green part of the 
plant, it may undergo a change into glucose and be 
conveyed to other parts of the plant, even those that 
are in the dark under the soil, as in the tubers of the 
potato, for while it cannot be originated from in- 
organic elements by protoplasm in the absence of 
light (or even in the light, for it requires chlorophyll, 
not protoplasm, to form it) it can nevertheless be de- 
posited by protoplasm from the solution of glucose 
in the cell-sap. An extremely small grain of starch 
is first deposited consisting of starch-cellulose; within 
this is then deposited a softer particle of starch con- 
sisting of stareh-granulose which forms the hilum, 
and then around this hilum there are deposited, by 
intussusception, alternating layers of the denser 
starch-celluloae and the softer starch-grannlose, thus 
giving the starch grains the appearance of being made 
up of concentric layers around the hilum, which lat- 
ter is usually excentric. 

According to the needs of the growing plant, these 
starch-grains, once they have been formed by the 
chlorophyll-bodies, can be changed to sugar and re- 
formed and redeposited elsewhere, as often as it may 
be necessary. 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 559 

Starch grains are usually rounded or oval, but if a 
cell is crowded with many grains, they may assume 
more or less angular forms; the size of the starch 
grains may vary from about -^ of a millimeter, in 
potato starch, to ^ido ol a millimeter, in a variety 
of chenopodium; but the grains may also vary in size 
in the same plant, as we find, for example, quite 
small and quite large grains in the tuber of the 
potato, while the grains of starch in the seeds of 
Indian corn are remarkably even in size. Moreover, 
the general appearance or shape of the grains of 
starch is sufficiently characteristic in certain plants, 
to enable us to identify them under the microscope. 

That starch grains are colored blue by iodine, and 
that they polarize light, giving a "polarization-cross", 
has already been explained. 

Starch is insoluble in water, alcohol or ether; if 
boiled in water, it swells into a jelly-like paste, but 
does not dissolve. 

There is little difference between the various 
starches as far as their use is concerned, and there- 
fore the cheapest source is usually utilized, so that 
potato and wheat starches are mainly used in 
Europe, while corn-starch is extensively employed in 
America. For special purposes, however, wheat, 
rice, arrow-root and other starches are used, and a 
short description of these trade articles will be given. 

Most of the starches are white powders, but in bulk 
they often occur in peculiar prismatic columnar pul- 
verulent lumps, as in ordinary laundry starch, or in 
peculiar grains, as in sago or tapioca. Starch-grains 
are fairly characteristic in appearance under the 
microscope, and although it might be difficult or im- 
possible to determine the origin of any single granule, 
the appearance of a microscopical field of them is 
characteristic. The different starches figured are all 
enlarged at the same rate, about 250 diameters, so 



560 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

that it will be seen that the size as well as the shape 
is of diagnostic valae in identifying these drugs. 

The student will do well to study also the starches 
of turmeric, beans, peas, etc., because these sub- 
stances are sometimes used as adulterants for pow- 
dered drugs of various kinds. It must be recalled to 
mind, that in examining powdered drugs the same 
rule holds good that is used in examining whole drugs, 
namely, that we determine the structure and appear- 
ance of the pure drug, then if there is anything pres- 
ent that is not of the pure drug, it must be an adul- 
teration or admixture, in which case we reject the 
drug, no matter whether we can determine what the 
adulterant is, or not. 

Starches are used as food; in medicine as demul- 
cents ; and extensively in the arts, for sizing, in laun- 
dering, etc. 

The more important starches have microscopical 
characteristics, as follows: 
Polyhedric granules often adherent 
in clusters; uniform, with well- 
marked hilum Com Starch. 

Lenticular or oval, medium-sized 
and small granules; layers and 

hilum indistinct Wbeat Starch. 

Ovate, medium-sized, layers and 

hilum distinct; hilum at broad 

end and often cracked or cleft. . -Arrowroot Starch. 

Ovate, large, layers very distinct ; 

hilum at narrow end, small, but 

distinct . Potato Starch. 

Polyhedric or angular, very small, 
uniform; hilum and layers in- 
distinct Rice Starch. 

Medium-sized, ovate, oblong, ellip- 
tic or irregular, often truncate at 
one end; layers and hilum dis- 
tinct, the latter generally cleft. . . Sago starch. 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



561 



Medium-sized, irregular, often mul- 
ler-shaped granules; layers indis- 
tinct ; hilum near rounded end. . . Tapioca starch. 
In microscopical appearance most of the starches 

are in powder or in lumps that are easily reduced to 

powder by pressure between the fingers, but the fol- 
lowing appear in peculiar lumps : 

Small, round, pearly, white or 
brownish, opaque or slightly 
translucent lumps , sago. 

Irregular lumps, white and opaque, 

or slightly translucent Tapioca. 

Maydis Amyliim. 
Iff. Cornstarch. — o. The 

fecula of the seed of Zea 

Mays; Gr amine <z. — h. 

America ; cultivated in 

other countries. — i>. 

Granules polyhedric or 

angular from mutual 

compression within the 

cells, often adherent in 

clusters, uniform in size, 

with large, well-marked 

central hilum but indis- 



tinct layers ; white ; odorless 
and tasteless. 

Tritici Amylnm. 

N. Wheat Starch. — o. The 
fecula of the grain or seed of 

Triticum vulgare; Graminece. 

-H. Cultivated in temperate 

' zones. — d. White powder ; the 

granules rather small or 

medium-sized, but mixed with 

many quite small granules with but few of intermedi- 





562 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



ate sizes; lenticular or oval; layers and hilum in- 
distinct; odorless and tasteless. 

Marantse Amylum. 
N. Arrow-root. — o. The fecula of the rhizome of 
Maranta arundinacea; Marantacece {Cannacecz). — 
H. West Indies; culti- 
vated in tropical coun- 
tries. — b. Light white 
powder, or pulverulent 
lumps; produces a pecul- 
iar crackling sound 
when a package of it is 
compressed; should be 
odorless and tasteless, 
but is sometimes musty, 
when it should be re- 
jected. The granules 
are of medium size, 
ovate, oblong, sometimes 
truncate, with delicately 
marked layers, and a 
broader end, the hilum generally cracked or cleft in 
stellate or cross-shaped manner. 




distinct hilum near the 




TUBERI SOLAN! AMYLUM. 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 



563 



Tubori Solani Amylnm. 

jr. Potato Starch. — o. The fecula of the tuber of 
Solatium tuberosum; Solanacecs. — h. Cultivated gen- 
erally. — 1>. White powder or pulverulent lumps; 
the granules large, ovate or oblong, frequently in 
twin-granules, layers very distinctly marked, the 
hilum small and near the narrower end, and rarely 
cracked or cleft. 

Oryzse Amylnm. 

M. Rice Starch. — o. The fecula of the grain or seed 
of Oryza saliva; Gvaminecr. — h. Cultivated gener- 
ally. — d. A very fine white 
powder; the granules are very 
minute, by far the smallest of 
the commercial starches, poly- 
hodric or angular, uniform in 
size, layers and hilum indis- 
tinct. — u. Owing to the ex- 
treme fineness of powdered 
rice starch this variety of 
starch is most generally em- 
ployed in the manufacture'of toilet articles, such as 
face-powders, etc. 




Sago. 



several 



M. Sago. — o. The fecula of 
varieties of sago 
palms, different varie- 
ties of Metvoxylon, 
Rap h i a , Sagucrus, 
P/iosnix, Cycas, m^S^jt/ 
Z ami a , etc. ; but 
usually ascribed to 
M etro xy I o n Sagu 
(Sagus Rumphii) and 
other palms; Palmes 
{Pa Im a ce cz). — h. 
Tropical countries. — 
». The word "sago'' refers to the product of a process 




i 



564 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



of treating starch (any starch) so as to form the pecul- 
iar grains so well known under this name; so that, 
while sago is mainly prepared from the starch of 
various palms, it has been made from potato and 
other starches. The process consists in heating the 
still moist starch at a temperature of 60° to 70° C, 
by which many of the grains are changed, becoming 
gelatinous masses; after having been thus heated, the 
mass is granulated and dried, thus forming the little 
round, pearly, white or brownish, opaque or slightly 
translucent lumps which constitute the trade article. 
While most of the granules are altered by this pro- 
cess, some of the granules remain unchanged, and 
these appear under the microscope as medium-sized, 
oblong, elliptic, irregular granules, often truncate at 
one end; layers and hilum both distinct, the latter 
often cracked or cleft. — u. Altogether for culinary pur- 
poses ; as diet for the sick or invalids. 

Tapioca. 

. n. Tapioca. — o. The fecula of the rhizome of 
Manihot utilissima {Jatropha Manihof); Euphor- 
biacece. — H. Brazil ; cultivated in tropical countries. 
— ». The starch from one 
variety of this rhizome 
(cassava starch) is mixed 
with a poisonous milky 
juice, which is removed by 
washing; the poisonous sub- 
stance is volatile and if a 
little remains in the starch 
it is dissipated in the cook- 
ing. The starch is pre- 
pared for the market in a 
manner similar to that in 
which sago is prepared, but it is not granulated in the 
same manner. Tapioca is in irregular, hard, white, 
rough grains or lumps, opaque or slightly diaph- 




NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 565 

anous, with most of the starch granules changed in 
shape; the unchanged granules of starch are medium- 
sized, irregular, often muller-shaped, with indistinct 
layers, and the hilum near the rounded end. 
— U. Altogether for culinary purposes; as diet for the 
sick and invalids. 

AMORPHOUS VEGETABLE DRUGS. 

To a certain extent, although not altogether, the 
basis of grouping these drugs is their chemical con- 
stitution. In regard to quite a number of the drugs 
of this class, there may be reasonable differences of 
opinion whether we are to consider them as drugs or 
as preparations. If we consider them as drugs, they 
must be described in works on pharmacognosy ; if as 
preparations, they should be described in works on 
pharmacy. Thus, some authors describe citric acid 
as a drug, others do not ; we will therefore recall the 
definition given for the word "drugs" at the outstart 
of these Notes: "Drugs are the organic substances 
used in medicine or in the arts in the crude form in 
which they are brought into trade." For example: 
Catechu is made by boiling chips, etc., of a tree in 
water, straining and evaporating the decoction to 
solid extract consistence; this is done where the tree 
grows; the wood is not sent into trade, but this ex- 
tract is the crudest form in which we get the article ; 
catechu i3 therefore a drug. Extract of logwood is made 
in precisely the same way as is catechu, but the wood 
is imported (this is therefore the drug) and the extract 
is made here or in Europe (where also the wood is im- 
ported), and the extract is therefore a preparation. 

On the other hand: Extract of licorice is exten- 
sively manufactured from the roots where the roots 
are grown and it is sent into market from there; it is 
therefore like catechu and may be called a drug; but 
enormous quantities of the root (drug) are imported 
and manufactured into extract in this country ; the 



566 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

extract is therefore like the extract of logwood, a 
preparation; what then is it? a drag or a preparation? 
We will call it a drug, but others have just as much 
right to deny that it is a drug ajid they may call it a 
preparation. 

No apology is necessary, therefore, if drugs are 
enumerated here that others may not recognize as 
drugs, nor if the contrary is the case. If any error is 
made, it is better to describe too many articles as 
drugs, rather than to omit important ones. 

Formerly the author of these Notes classified drugs 
of this class as "Mixture of granular and formless 
material" and "Homogeneous under microscope" 
(following Schleiden in this regard) ; the first of these 
groups included, for example, opium, because the 
epidermal cells of the poppy capsules are necessarily 
included. However, this is clearly an accidental, 
even though unavoidable, admixture, and the opium 
itself is homogeneous in structure. 

If a vegetable drug of cellular structure is placed in 
water it will swell, but it retains its structure ; if a 
non-cellular amorphous vegetable drug is placed in a 
proper solvent, water, dilute alcohol or alcohol, it 
does not retain its shape, but disintegrates, and any 
accidental cellular or other impurities or debris will 
sink as a sediment, if there be any. It is therefore 
not necessary to retain the above-mentioned distinc- 
tion, and drugs of this class are grouped as follows: 

AMORPHOUS VEGETABLE DRUGS. 

Acids 74. 

Juices 75. 

Extracts 76, 

Sugars 77. 

Gums 78. 

Gum-Kesins . 79. 

Eesins c 0. 

Oleo-Resins 81. 



NCTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 567 

Balsams 82. 

Volatile Oils : • 83. 

Fixed Oils 84. 

Peculiar Concrete Substances 85. 

Coloring Matters 86. 

GROUP LXXIV. 

ACIDS. 

Only two acids can fairly be called drugs, citric 
and tartaric; all other acids, such as acetic, benzoic, 
carbolic, crude pyroligneous, salicylic, etc., are more 
properly called preparations. 
Colorless, right- rhombic crys- 
tals, deliquesce in moist air; 

acid taste Acidnm Citricnm. 

Colorless monoclinic prisms, or 
crystalline crusts; permanent 

in air ; acid taste Acidnm Tartaricnm. 

Acidnm Citricnm. 

N. Citric Acid. — o. Usually prepared from the juice 
of the lemon, Citrus Limonum {Rutacece, Auranti- 
acece) y but also from the fruits of other varieties of Cit- 
rus (limes). — h. Cultivated in sub-tropical countries. 
— ». Colorless, translucent, right-rhombic prisms; 
efflorescent in warm dry air and deliquescent in 
moist air ; odorless, and with an agreeable, purely 
acid taste. — c. Admixture of tartaric acid may be 
detected by dissolving 1 gram of citric acid in 5 cc. of 
a solution of potassium acetate (1 in 3), then adding 
an equal volume of alcohol; the solution will become 
turbid if tartaric or oxalic acid is present. See also 
pha'rmacopceial tests. — u. Refrigerant; also used in 
making various pharmaceutical chemicals. Dose: 

0.3 to 2 grams. 

Acidnm Tartaricnm. 

W. Tartaric Acid. — o. Prepared from argols (crude 
cream of tartar), a peculiar substance deposited on 



568 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

the inside of wine-casks during the fermentation of 
wine. — i>. Colorless, translucent, monoclinic prisms, 
or crystalline crusts ; more commonly found in the 
drug-trade as a white powder; permanent in the air; 
odorless, and with an agreeable, purely acid taste. 
— c. See pharmacopoeial tests for purity, etc. — 
V. Refrigerant ; also used in making various pharma- 
ceutical chemicals. Dose : 0.3 to 2 grams. 

GROUPS LXXV and LXXVI, 

INSPISSATED JUICES AND EXTRACTS. 

Group 75 includes substances which are fluids in 
the living plants, and which are obtained by making 
incisions, etc., when they exude, after which they are 
inspissated to solid extract consistence. 

But we arbitrarily limit this group to such inspis- 
sated juices that dissolve more or less completely in 
water, for otherwise gutta percha, caoutchouc, crude 
turpentine, Peruvian balsam, etc., would also be 
"juices". 

A strictly scientific classification in pharmacognosy 
should be based on physical characteristics that can 
be recognized in the drug itself, so that a classifica- 
tion of volatile oils adopted by one author as "from 
rhizomes, from woods, from barks, from leaves, from 
herbs, from flowers, from fruits, from seeds, from 
oleo-resins, from stearopten, from resin" can be of 
no value whatever in pharmacognosy, because it is 
impossible to tell by a mere inspection or examina- 
tion of an unknown volatile oil, from which of these 
sources it was obtained, leaving out of consideration 
the fact that when a "resin" can yield a volatile oil, 
it is not a resin, but an "oleo-resin". 

So the above definition of inspissated juices, that 
they are more or less completely soluble in water, is 
not sufficient to sharply define this group from the 
next group, the extracts. Extracts are solid plant- 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 569 

cell contents, and are dissolved out from their vari- 
ous plant-sources by boiling in water, then evaporat- 
ing to solid extract consistence. They also dissolve 
more or less completely in water. 

There is no distinctive characteristic by which we 
can differentiate drugs of the two groups except, in a 
general way, the greater solubility of extracts in 
water alone, and these two groups might have been 
placed together, possibly with more propriety than to 
keep them separate. It must be admitted that other 
writers, Maisch for instance, had good cause to make 
one group of "Extracts and Inspissated Juices"; on 
the other hand, it adds much to the students' under- 
standing of the nature of the individual drugs if they 
are grouped as is done here. 

In order, however, to avoid any difficulty that 
might arise from an inability to distinguish the drugs 
of these tsvo groups by any physical characteristics, 
they are enumerated and compared with each other 
in one synopsis or descriptive list. 

Of course, the preparations known as "sued" or 
"juices" (of the British pharmacopoeia) have nothing 
in common with this group in a system of pharma- 
cognosy. They are "preparations". 

Guarana might readily be taken for an extract or 
inspissated juice, unless a bit of it is examined under 
the microscope, and it is, in fact, grouped with these 
drugs by Maisch. It is included in the synopsis, 
with reference to its proper group. 

Inspissated Juices (Group LXXV) : 
Irregular subglobular cakes, 

brown, with remnants of 

leaves or rumex fruits adher- 
ing ; heavy narcotic odor opium. 

Hard, orange-brown, opaque 

masses, with resinous fracture; 

odor suggests saffron Aloe. 



570 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Small, angular, shining, brittle 
pieces, ruby-red, transparent 
in small fragments; odorless.. Kino. 
In quarter-sections of plano- 
convex cakes, or in irregular 

pieces ; grayish-brown Lactucarium. 

Extracts (Group EXXVI) : 
Irregular broken masses, brittle, 
dark-brown; sweetish astrin- 
gent taste Catechu. 

Bark-brown, almost black cakes 
or fragments; often cakes en- 
closed in paper-boxes Logwood Extract. 

In round black sticks with an 
impression of trademark at 
one end; or in large, black 
masses or lumps; very sweet.. jLlquorice Extract. 
Sometimes in flat, scaly frag- 
ments ; more commonly as a 
thick extract-like mass, in 

jars French Lactucarium. 

Apt to be mistaken for an extract: 
Cylindrical or cake-like masses, 
very hard, reddish-brown ; 

Odorless Guarana. 

(See Guarana, Group LXX. ) 
Opium. 
N. Opium, Thebaicum. — o. The concrete, milky 
exudation obtained by incising the capsules of 
Papaver somniferum; Papaveracece. — h. Western 
Asia ; cultivated. — i>. The milky juice which exudes 
when incisions are made in the poppy capsules, be- 
comes concrete and turns brown in color ; it is gath- 
ered and formed into lumps, which are wrapped in 
poppy leaves and packed with rumex-capsules. 
Opium is in subglobular lumps or cakes, irregularly 
angular from mutual 'compression, being packed 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 571 

while still somewhat moist; the leaves and sometimes 
rumex-capsules adhere to the outer surface ; varying 
in color from chestnut-brown to dark-brown and 
in consistence from quite dry and rigid to semi- 
plastic, according to the amount of moisture re- 
tained; granular in fracture, and mixed with shreds 
of the epidermis of the capsules ; odor heavy narcotic 
and taste nauseous bitter. — c. The most important 
constituent is morphine, of which opium in its usual 
moist condition should contain not less than 9% ; 
when dried and powdered, opium should contain 
from 13 to 15% of morphine, and the average of this, 
or about 14%, may be obtained by mixing opium of 
higher assay with a proper quantity of opium of 
lower assay. In addition to morphine, opium con- 
tains about 10% of narcotine, about 0.2 to 0.7% 
codeine, and about 15 other, unimportant, alkaloids. 
— U. Narcotic, anodyne, anti-spasmodic, hypnotic ; 
used also to check discharges from the bowels. Dose 
for adults: 0.05 to 0.1 gram; should be given to chil- 
dren with great caution. It is usually better to give 
in divided doses, even to adults. 

In large doses, opium is a narcotic poison. Anti- 
dotal treatment consists in prompt evacuation of the 
stomach, preferably by means of stomach pump or 
tube, keep patient awake by walking him about, cold 
douches, flagellation if necessary, and by giving 
stimulants internally, such as strong coffee, alcoholic 
liquors, and atropine subcutaneously. 

Varieties: Turkey opium, also called Constanti- 
nople or Smyrna opium, is the usual trade article, as 
described above. Egyptian opium in flattish cakes, 
Persian opium in sticks wrapped in paper, and 
Indian opium put up in large balls wrapped in a 
thick case of poppy leaves, or in cakes wrapped in 
oiled paper, are not met with in ordinary trade. 

Adulterations are mainly of a mechanical char- 
acter, such as imbedded leaden shot or bullets, peb- 



572 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

bles, etc., but gum, starch, extract from poppy 
plants, etc., have also been used. The assay must 
determine the quality of any given lot of opium. 

Aloe. 

N. Aloes. — o. Obtained from several varieties of 
Aloe (nat. ord. : Liliacecz) by cutting off the leaves, 
allowing the juice to exude without pressure, and 
then evaporating to solid consistence. — h. As men- 
tioned further on, in connection with different 
varieties of Aloes. — i>. Irregular or broken lumps, 
different shades of brown, opaque in mass, but in 
thin layers translucent to transparent ; fracture more 
or less distinctly conchoidal, varying from dull waxy 
to resinous ; odor peculiar, reminding of saffron, and 
taste intensely bitter. — c. Aloin varies in quantity 
in different aloes, from 16 to 25% in Natal aloes, to 
none at all in Cape aloes; resin, 60% in some aloes, 
trace of volatile oil, etc. — u. Active purgative, em- 
menagogue. Dose: 0.1 to 0.5; for drastic effects, the 
dose is sometimes increased to 1 gram. 

The following are the more important varieties of 
aloes occurring in the trade : 

Aloe Socotrina, Socotrine Aloes; from the Island 
of Socotra and Eastern Africa; obtained from A. Per- 
ryi; brought into trade usually in monkey-skins. 
The interior sometimes still moist, yellowish or 
orange-brown, not greenish; translucent; odor rather 
pleasant. Considered the best variety of aloes. 

Aloe Barbadensis, Barbadoes Aloes; from the 
Island of Barbadoes ; obtained from A. vera; brought 
into trade mainly in gourds. Deep orange-brown; 
odor peculiar, differing from Socotrine aloes. Con- 
sidered to be a good variety of aloes. Curasao aloes, 
a variety of Barbadoes aloes, gathered and prepared 
from A. vulgaris ', A. spicata and other varieties of 
Aloe, in the Dutch West Indies, comes into trade in 
old boxes and irregular packages. 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 573 

Aloe Capensis, Cape Aloes; from Southern Africa, 
Cape of Good Hope; obtained from A. spicata and 
other varieties of Aloe; comes into trade in boxes or 
skins. Blackish-brown or olive-black; odor disagree- 
able. The poorest variety of aloes, used almost ex- 
clusively for veterinary purposes. 
Kino. 

N. Kino. — o. The inspissated juice, from incisions 
in the trunk of Pterocarpus Marsupium; Legumi- 
nosce. — h. East Indies. — i>. Small, angular, brittle 
pieces, glossy, brownish-red in larger fragments, 
ruby-red and transparent in small splinters or on the 
edges of the larger fragments; odorless, with' sweetish 
astringent taste, becoming plastic and adherent to the 
teeth when chewed, and coloring the saliva deep-red. 
— C. Kino-tannic acid, coloring matter, etc. ; should 
be almost completely soluble in alcohol and at least 
80% should be dissolved by boiling water. Kino con- 
tains pectin, etc., and its solutions, such as tincture, 
etc., are very apt to gelatinize. — u. Pleasant astrin- 
gent, especially in diarrhoeas of children. Dose: 0.5 
to 2 grams. 

Several varieties occur in the trade, of which the 
one mentioned above is the best and the most usual ; 
it is known as Malabar Kino. 

West Indian Kino, or Jamaica Kino, is from 
Coccoloba uvifera; Polygonacecz; dark brown-red and 
almost completely soluble in both alcohol and water. 

South American Kino, or Caraccas Kino, is from 
the same plant as the West Indian variety, but seems 
to be prepared in a more slovenly manner ; it con- 
tains more impurities. 

African Kino was from a variety of Pterocarpus, 
but is no longer found in the trade. 

Australian Kino, or Botany Bay Kino, is from 
Eucalyptus resinifera and other varieties of Eucalyp- 
tus; Myrtacecz. It varies in characteristics, is often 




574 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

very much contaminated with impurities, as bits of 
bark, etc., and is seldom used. 

Xiactiicariiim. 

N. Lactucarium, German Lactucarium. — o. The 

concrete milk-juice of 
Lactuca virosa (nat. 
ord.: Composites), 
obtained by incision 
and gathered when 
partially dry or con- 
crete. — h. Prepared 
in Scotland, England, 
France and Germany; 
the variety mainly 
used in this country is "German" Lactucarium. — 
». The juice appears to be collected in small saucer- 
shaped vessels, and when nearly hard is cut into four 
pieces ; this makes the pieces appear as quarters of a 
saucer-shaped cake, as shown in the illustration; or it 
may occur in irregular fragments of larger cakes 
broken up; grayish-brown to dark reddish-brown ex- 
ternally, whitish-gray within, with waxy fracture; 
odor heavy narcotic, taste bitter. — c. Lactucin, 
caoutchouc, resin, etc. Partly soluble in alcohol and 
ether; yields nearly half its weight to boiling water, 
making a deep-brown solution. Diluted alcohol dis- 
solves about 40% of the drug. — u. Anodyne, 
soporific or hypnotic; similar in action to opium, but 
much less active and reliable. Dose : 0.5 to 1 gram ; 
has been given even up to 4 grams. 

See also Lactucarium Gallicum, a little farther on. 

EXTRACTS. 

See remarks and synopsis of group on page 568. 
Catechu. 

ST. Catechu, *Cutch, Terra ■ Japonica. — o. An ex- 
tract prepared from the heart- wood of Acacia Catechu; 
Leguminoscs. — h. East Indies. — i>. In irregular 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 575 

masses and fragments, dark-brown, fracture brittle 
and glossy when freshly made ; often contaminated 
with fragments of leaves, etc., due to the fact that the 
inspissated juice is poured on layers or mats of leaves 
to cool and harden; nearly odorless, with sweetish 
and very astringent taste. — c. About 35% catechu- 
tannic acid ; should not yield more than 6% of ash. 
— U. Astringent. Dose : 0.5 to 2 grams. 

Catechu pallidum. Pale Catechu or Gambir, is an 
entirely different article, obtained from Uncaria 
Gambir; Rubiacece. The leaves and small twigs are 
boiled in water and the decoction is evaporated to 
solid extract consistence. It comes into trade in ir- 
regular lumps or small cubes, about 2.5 cm. in size; 
reddish-brown externally and lighter-colored within, 
with a brittle and dull fracture; odorless, sweetish- 
bitter and astringent taste. — c, U. and dose, as 
above. Pale catechu is not much used in this 

country. 

Hsematoxyli Extractuni. 

N. Logwood Extract. — o. Made by evaporating a 
decoction from chips of the heart- wood of Hczma- 
toxylon Campechiatium (nat. ord. : Leguminoscz} to 
dry extract consistence. See also Haematoxylon, page 
173. — i>. Brittle, dry cakes of deep ruby-red color, 
without odor and with sweetish astringent taste. As 
a trade article or drug, it usually occurs in circular 
cakes enclosed in paper boxes, prepared by pouring 
the extract, when sufficiently evaporated to congeal, 
into the boxes as moulds and letting the extract 
harden in the boxes. — c. Tannic acid and a peculiar 
coloring principle, hematoxylin. — u. A mild astrin- 
gent. Dose: 0.5 to 2 grams. Also used in dyeing 
textile fabrics. 

Glycyrrliizse Extr actum. 

N. Liquorice Extract, Liquorice, Licorice. — ©. 
Made by evaporating a decoction of the roots of 
Glycyrrhiza glabra (nat. ord. : Leguminosce') to dry 



576 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

extract consistence. See Glycyrrhiza, page 173. — 
B. This extract is manufactured in enormous quanti- 
ties, both at the places where liquorice root is grown, 
and in this country, most of it being consumed in the 
manufacture of chewing tobacco. For this purpose it 
is furnished in casks, boxes, etc., into which the ex- 
tract is poured and in which it cools and hardens. 
For the drug-trade the extract is moulded into round 
sticks, about 1.5 cm. thick and about 15 cm. long, 
with usually a trade-mark or manufacturer's brand 
stamped on one end, which is flattened and broad- 
ened thereby. The extract is black, with brittle, 
glossy, conchoidal fracture ; no odor, very sweet taste. 

— C. The sweetness depends on glycyrrhizin. — c 
Demulcent, expectorant. Mainly used in pharmacy 
and medicine as an excipient, to disguise the tastes 
of disagreeable medicines. 

Iiactucarium Gallicnm. 
nr. French Lactucarium, Thridace. — o. The juice of 
the tops of Lactuca virosa, obtained by expression, or 
an extract obtained in the usual manner, inspissated 
to dry extract consistence. — d. Occurs in the trade 
in thin flat brown cakes, or, as it is hygroscopic, more 
frequently as a dark-brown pasty mass, like thick 
solid extracts. Odor slightly narcotic, taste bitterish. 

— U. Similar to those of true lactucarium, but 
weaker and even less reliable. Used almost exclu- 
sively as a cheaper substitute for true lactucarium. 

GROUP LXXVII. 

SUGARS. 

Sugars are sweet to the taste, soluble in water, 
forming syrups, and soluble in dilute alcohol. It is 
not necessary to say much about the different kinds 
of sugars or saccharine principles, because that be- 
longs to chemistry rather than to pharmacognosy ; a 
few words on this subject will therefore suffice. 



NCTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 577 

Cane sugar, Saccharose or Sucrose, from sugar 
cane, sorghum, sugar beet and sugar maple; 

Grape sugar, including dextrose or grape sugar and 
levulose, or fruit sugar, from grapes and fruit, but 
commercially from starch of corn and cereals; 

Mannite, contained in manna; 

Maltose, produced by the action of malt on starch ; 
and 

Lactose, or milk sugar, from the whey of milk. 

In this connection the saccharine substances of 
animal origin must be remembered, namely sugar of 
milk (see page 38) and honey (see page 42). 
White, hard, crystalline granules; 

very sweet Saecharnm. 

Cylindrical crystalline masses; 

transparent, and very sweet Rock Candy. 

Yellowish granules or masses ; or 

thick, viscid, transparent paste; 

Sweet Glucose. 

Flattish, yellowish- white, porous 

flakes; honey-like odor and 

Sweet taste * . . . . Manna. 

Cylindrical crystalline masses; 
yellowish-white, opaque; sweet- 
ish Saecharnm Iiactls. 

Syrupy, sweet, aromatic, some- 
times granular liquid Mel. 

Saecharnm. 

W. Sugar. — o. and H. From the cane of Saccharum 
officinarum (Graminecs)y cultivated in Southern 
United States, West Indies, Africa, Hawaiian Islands, 
and other tropical and sub-tropical countries; from 
Sorghum saccharatum and other varieties of Sor- 
ghum (Graminece), cultivated in the Northern temper- 
ate zone; from the sugar beet, Beta vulgaris (Cheno- 
podiacece), cultivated in temperate parts of North 
America and Europe; from the sugar maple, Acer 
Saccharinum {Sapindacece~), cultivated in Northern 



578 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

United States and Canada. The sugar beet is the 
most important source of sugar, the sugar cane com- 
ing next in importance. — i>. Sugar, or "granulated 
sugar", occurs in white, dry, hard, crystalline gran- 
ules, permanent in the air, soluble in one-half its own 
weight of water; odorless, and with a pure sweet 
taste. — u. Demulcent, lenitive; mainly used for 
sweetening. 

Rock Candy is cane sugar crystallized in large 
cylindrical or irregular masses, usually around a 
string or stick; either colorless, or colored pink. It 
is simply a pure sugar. 

Clarified (yellowish) and brown sugars contain 
small quantities of molasses ; they are granular, not 
crystalline, and very sweet. 

Inferior granulated sugar often has a yellowish 
tint, which is removed or "bleached" by adding 
ultramarine or Prussian blue to the sugar; sugar 
whitened thus is apt to cause bluish precipitates in 
preparations made from it, and chemical syrups are 
apt to spoil more readily than when pure granulated 
sugar is employed in making them. 

When sugar is crystallized from its solution, a cer- 
tain proportion of it remains as uncrystallizable 
sugar in the solution and this constitutes "syrupus 
fuscus", molasses, or sugar-house molasses. 

Crude maple sugar usually comes in round or rec- 
tangular cakes, of a yellowish-brown color, with an 
agreeable aromatic odor and a very sweet, peculiarly 
pleasant flavor. 

Sacctiarimi Uvenm. 

N. Glucose, Grape Sugar. — o. Can be made from 
grapes or fruits, but is made in a much cheaper man- 
ner by boiling starch for some time with dilute sul- 
phuric acid, then neutralizing the acid with calcium 
carbonate, filtering the solution and evaporating the 
filtrate. — 1>. Whitish or yellowish masses or gran- 
ules, inodorous, less sweet than cane sugar. Also 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 579 

furnished in the form of a thick, viscid, paste-like 
mass. — u. Same as of cane sugar, for which latter it 
is often used as a harmless and cheap substitute or as 
an admixture, especially in the manufacture of candies 
and confections. Solutions of glucose are more apt to 
ferment than solutions of cane sugar, and glucose is 
therefore less fitted for making the pharmaceutical 
and chemical syrups. 

Manna. 
N. Manna. — o. A concrete saccharine exudation 
from incisions in the stem of Fraxinus Ornus; 
Oleacecz. — h. Mediterranean countries. — ». "Flake 
Manna" : In flattish, somewhat three-edged pieces or 
"flakes", up to 20 cm. long and 5 cm. broad, although 
usually much smaller; porous, crystalline, easily 
broken; yellowish-white externally, white within; 
odor aromatic, remindiug of honey, and taste sweet, 
slightly bitterish and acrid. In a less valuable 
variety of manna, the flakes are broken and more or 
less agglutinated, forming irregular lumps; less white, 
more yellowish to yellowish-brown; otherwise like 
flake manna. — c. About 90% mannite in the best 
varieties, glucose, etc. — u. Lenitive, demulcent, 
laxative. Dose : 5 to 25 grams. 

"Sorts Manna" or "Manna in Sorts" consists of 
more or less agglutinated masses, showing tears with 
crystalline structure, but few fragments of flakes; 
often brown, and always inferior to flake manna. 

A fat, viscid, brownish manna with neither frag- 
ments of flakes or tears, and showing no crystalline 
particles, should be rejected. 

GROUP LXXVI I I. 

GUMS. 

In many trees a peculiar change of the cell-wall in 
the barks takes place under certain circumstances, re- 
sulting in the formation of gum. Incisions or acci- 



580 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

dental injuries to such trees are followed by an exuda- 
tion of a peculiar material, intended apparently by 
nature as a means of closing the wound and protect- 
ing the tree against injurious influences (from bacteria 
causing decay) or too great a bleeding or loss of sap. 

Gums have an insipid taste, are soluble in water, or 
swell in water, forming either a liquid mucilage or a 
jelly-like paste ; they are insoluble in alcohol and are 
precipitated from watery solutions by alcohol. 

When a gum, resin, or other substance exudes in 
round or oval grains or lumps, and these lumps re- 
main separate, they are known as "tears"; if they 
exude in flat band-like pieces, these pieces are called 
"flakes". 

Gums from various trees, peach, cherry, the mez- 
quite trees of Texas, etc., have been used, but are not 
regular articles of commerce although they may per- 
haps be met with as adulterants occasionally. Dex- 
trin, made from starch, is used as a substitute for 
gum arabic in the manufacture of cheap mucilages for 
pasting. 
Indistinct, transparent, crackled, 

colorless to yellowish tears; soluble 

in water Acacia. 

In wavy and curved flakes, whitish, 

translucent; swells in water Tragacantha. 

Acacia. 

N. Acacia, Gum Arabic. — o. A spontaneous exuda- 
tion from the stems and branches of Acacia Senegal; 
Leguminoscz ; probably also from other varieties of 
Acacia, as A. vera, etc. — h. Africa. — i>. Eoundish, 
crackled tears, or angular fragments of tears, with a 
brittle, vitreous, sometimes iridescent fracture; trans- 
parent and nearly colorless in small tears that are 
not crackled or in thin fragments, but more or less 
opaque from numerous minute fissures in the larger 
tears; varying in color from nearly colorless in the 
best varieties to yellowish or brownish in inferior 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 581 

grades ; odorless ; taste mucilaginous and insipid. 
— C. About 14% water; arabic acid combined with 
calcium, magnesium and potassium, sugar, etc. 
Acacia is soluble in water and forms a mucilage with 
it. — u. Demulcent ; used for emulsifying and in the 
arts. 

Poorer varieties of acacia are darker-colored, al- 
most brown, but all varieties yield a perfectly white 
powder. The faintest sourish odor, when moist 
breath is blown over it, indicates an inferior gum. 
Tragacantiia. 

w. Tragacanth. — o. Exudes spontaneously and 




from incisions in the stem of Astragalus gummifer 
and other varieties of Astragalus; Leguminosce. 



582 NOTBS ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

— H. Western Asia. — i>. Flake Tragacanth: In 
bands or flakes of various sizes and widths, more or 
less wavy, carved and contorted, marked with par- 
allel lines, white or yellowish-white, translucent, 
horny, tough; odorless and insipid. — c. Consists 
mainly of bassorin, and a compound of gummic acid 
with calcium that is not identical with that found in 
Acacia. About one-half of this gum (the bassorin) is 
insoluble in water, merely swelling into a gelatinous 
mass or paste. — u. Demulcent; used to make pill- 
masses, pastes, etc. 

Tragacanth in sorts consists of irregular, more or 
less dirty fragments or small tears, often mixed with 
foreign material, peach or cherry gum, etc. 



GROUP LXXIX. 

GUM-RESINS. 

The fluids from which these drugs are formed, exist 
in the plants as emulsions (milky juices, latex) either 
in intercellular spaces or spurious ducts, or in true 
ducts having their own walls. They consist of a 
resinous constituent, soluble in alcohol but not in 
water, and a mucilaginous substance (gum) soluble 
in water but not in alcohol; in the plant these con- 
stituents are mixed with water, as emulsions. 
Usually they also contain a little, fixed oil, some in- 
organic substances, etc. After they have once been 
dried, as in the drugs, it is not always possible to re- 
make the emulsion by mere addition of water and 
trituration, implying therefore that some chemical 
changes have or may have taken place during the 
drying of the latex from which they were formed. 

Some authors (Berg and Maisch,for example) have 
grouped gum-resins according to whether they con- 
tain small quantities of volatile oil or not, but the 
amount of this constituent is not sufficiently large in 
any of them to be of much importance. Gamboge, 



NCTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 583 

scammony and euphorbium contain no volatile oil ; 
the others contain from mere traces to a few per cent 
of it, according to the age of the drug, losing this 
constituent in the course of time, unless kept in tight 
containers, and even then it will gradually become 
less. 

Deep reddish or orange-yellow cylin- 
drical solid or hollow pieces, or 
cakes; bright lemon-yellow when 

wetted Cambogia. 

Greenish-black or dark-grayish, more 

or less porous masses. Scammoiiinm. 

Irregularly roundish tears, often hol- 
low or enclosing spines or fruit 
parts; yellowish or yellowish-brown. Euphorbium. 

Brownish, slightly sticky mass; con- 
taining whitish tears imbedded in a 
pinkish-brown substance; very fetid 
odor Asaf oetida. 

In separate tears, or masses, dirty 
white to pale-brown externally, with 
bluish-white opalescent fracture; 
peculiar odor and bitter taste Ammoniacum. 

Tears or masses, friable, reddish- 
brown, with fatty or waxy f racture . Diyrrba. 

Yellowish translucent tears, generally 
rough and powdery on the outer sur- 
face from attrition Olibamun. 

Small, whitish to yellowish-brown 
translucent tears, with peculiar odor 
and acrid bitter taste Gaibannm. 

Cambogia. 
jr. Gamboge, Gummi Gutti. — ©. A gum-resin ob- 
tained from Garcinia Hanburii; Guttiferce. — H. 
Southeastern Asia, in Camboja, Annam and Siam. 
— D. The milk-juice exudes from incisions and is 



584 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

gathered in bamboo joints ; when sufficiently dry the 
bamboo is split off and the gamboge is in cylindrical, 
sometimes tubular pieces (pipe gamboge) 2.5 to 5 cm. 
in diameter, showing longitudinal impressions or 
lines of the inner surface of the bamboo ; fracture 
shallow conchoidal, glossy; yields a bright yellow 
powder and becomes bright lemon-yellow when 
wetted; no smell, but taste acrid. This is the best 
variety of gamboge; a somewhat less valuable kind, 
because more liable to be adulterated, is gamboge in 
cakes, which, however, corresponds otherwise to the 
above description. — c. 65 to 80% resin (cambogic 
acid), about 4% wax, 1 % ash and the remainder gum ; 
the gum therefore varies inversely as resin is more or 
less plentiful. — u. Active hydragogue cathartic. 
Dose : 0.05 to 0.25 gram. 

Scaiiimoniiuii. 

N. Scammony. — o. A resinous exudation obtained 
from the living roots of Convolvulus Scammonia; 
Convolvulacece. — h. Western Asia. — d. In irregu- 
lar, angular masses or in circular cakes, externally 
greenish-black or dark-grayish, darker internally and 
more or less porous, as if it had been frothy when 
exuding, breaking with an angular resinous fracture; 
odor somewhat cheese-like and taste slightly acrid. 
— C. From 75 to 95% resin, the balance mainly gum. 
The medicinal value depends on the resin alone, and 
as the drug is almost always more or less impure or 
adulterated, only the resin ought to be employed. 
Scammony sometimes is found containing less than 
25% of resin. — u. Hydragogue cathartic. Dose: 
0.05 to 0.25 gram. 

E n pli or bi ii in . 

N. Euphorbium. — o. A gum-resin obtained by 
making incisions in the stem of Euphorbium resini- 
fera; Euphorbiacecz. — H. Morocco. — ». Irregular, 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 585 

conical or round tears or drops, about the size of a 
pea to the size of a hazelnut, brittle, yellowish or 
yellowish-brown, internally lighter-colored, opaque 
or slightly translucent ; nearly odorless, taste very 
acrid. The powder is a violent sternutatory. — 
C. About 38% resin, 22% euphorbon, 18% gum, etc. 
— U. A drastic emetico-cathartic, but not used inter- 
nally. The acrid resin renders plasters made from 
euphorbium rubefacient and vesicant. 

Asafoetida. 

N. Asafetida. — o. A gum-resin obtained from the 
living root of Ferula foetida (Narthex Asafoetida) ; 
Umbelliferce. Probably also from other varieties of 
Ferula. — h. Persia, Thibet and other countries on 
the Arabian Sea. — ». The finest asafetida is in ir- 
regular firm masses, neither hard and dry, nor soft 
and sticky ; externally yellowish-gray to brownish- 
gray, internally milk-white when first broken but 
changing gradually to yellow, pink, purplish-red or 
brown, and showing tears imbedded in the mass, the 
tears undergoing the color changes slower than the 
mass in which they are imbedded; should be free 
from admixture of bark and other foreign impurities ; 
odor very disagreeably fetid (wherefore it is called 
Teufelsdreck in German), and taste bitter. — c. 
From 3 to 9% volatile oil, 20 to 30% of gum, and 50 to 
70% of resin; when triturated w r ith water it yields a 
white emulsion. — u. Nervine, antispasmodic and 
carminative; an ingredient of most table sauces. 
Dose: 0.2 to 1 gram. 

Asafetida in tears is best, but scarce. Asafetida in 
masses is most plentiful, the better kind often con- 
sisting mainly of whitish tears, imbedded in or ag- 
glutinated by a comparatively small amount of the 
somewhat softer pinkish-brown substance. This is 
the kind described above. 

Dry, hard, dark-brown, dirty or sticky asafetida, 



586 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

as well as one which shows a brown color in the 
fresh fracture, should be rejected. 
Ammoniacu m . 

N. Ammoniac. — o. A spontaneous exudation from 
the stem and root of Dorema Ammoniacum ; Urn- 
belliferce. — h. Persia and Turkestan. — ». In round- 
ish or irregularly globular tears, from 2 to 6 mm. or 
more in diameter, sometimes agglutinated into small 
masses, pale yellowish-brown externally, breaking 
with a conchoidal fracture, and on being freshly 
broken bluish-milkwhite and opalescent within; 
hard at ordinary temperature, but softening by the 
warmth of the hand ; odor peculiar, balsamic, and 
taste bitter, nauseous and acrid. — c. From 4 to 4% 
volatile oil, 60 to 70% resin, about 20% gum, etc. 
When triturated with water it yields a white emul- 
sion. — u. Antispasmodic and blennorrhetic, resem- 
bling asafetida in action. Dose : 0.5 to 2 grams. 

Ammoniac deteriorates with age, and dark-colored 
gum-resin with but a faint odor should be rejected. 

Cake ammoniac is a variety of ammoniac that ex- 
udes spontaneously (or from the stings of insects) 
from the roots of the plant, and usually contains 
vegetable impurities, sand, earth, and tears of am- 
moniac, agglutinated into a brown mass ; it should 
not be used for medicinal purposes. 
Myrrha. 

N. Myrrh. — o. A gum-resin obtained by spon- 
taneous exudation from the bark of Commiphora 
{Balsamodendron) Myrrha; Burseracece. — h. East- 
ern Africa and Southwestern Arabia. — ». Eoundish 
translucent, friable, reddish-brown tears or irregular 
masses, rough and powdery on the outer surface 
(from attrition) with waxy or fatty fracture, some- 
times marked with whitish veins ; balsamic odor and 
bitter, acrid taste. — c. 2 to 4% volatile oil, 25 to 40% 
resin and 40 to 60% gum, etc. When triturated with 
water, myrrh yields a brownish-yellow emulsion. 



XOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 587 

— U. Tonic, blennorrhetic, expectorant and emmena- 
gogue. Dose : 0.25 to 2 grams. 

Clean, semitransparent pieces ought always to be 
selected for medicinal use, and dark, opaque pieces 
should be rejected. 

Olibanum. 

If. Olibanum, Incense, Frankincense. — o. An ex- 
udation from the bark of Boswellia Carterii and 
other varieties of Boswellia; Terebinthacece. — h. 
Eastern Africa and Arabia. — ». Round or oblong 
tears of various sizes, but generally averaging about 
15 mm. in length, covered with a whitish dust formed 
by the attrition of the pieces, hard, brittle, with waxy 
fracture, pale reddish-yellow, translucent; when 
masticated it softens and forms a whitish emulsion 
with the saliva; odor balsamic and taste bitterish. — 
C. 4 to 7% volatile oil, 50 to 70% resin, 30 to 40% 
gum, etc. — u. Stimulant blennorrhetic. Dose: 1 to 

5 grams. Mainly used in plasters, fumigating pas- 
tilles, or in incense for church use, 

Galbanum. 

N. Galbanum. — o. A gum-resin -which exudes 
spontaneously from the lower part of the stem of 
Ferula galbaniflua, and probably other varieties of 
Ferula; Umbelliferce. — h. Persia. — d. In separate 
tears from the size of a pin's head to that of a pea, 
but more commonly more or less agglutinated into 
lumps ; light yellowish to greenish-brown externally, 
internally paler in color, but rarely whitish ; softens 
from the warmth of the hand ; odor very peculiar, 
strong, balsamic, and taste bitter and acrid. — c. 

6 to 9% volatile oil, 60 to 65% resin, 15 to 20% gum, 
etc. When triturated with water it yields a whitish 
emulsion. — u. Stimulant blennorrhetic. Dose: 0.5 
to 1 gram. Mainly used externally in plasters ; 
irritant and suppurative. 



588 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

GROUP LXXX. 

RESINS. 

Authors are not agreed on the proper methods of 
grouping resins, oleo-resins and balsams, or in their 
definitions of what these substances are. For in- 
stance, what we shall call oleo-resins are called 
"balsams" by Berg; substances which we shall call 
"balsams" are included in "resins" by Berg and 
Maisch ; we will therefore define what we mean by 
these several groups in the introductory description 
of each group, but must consider the general facts 
now, so that we may understand the relation of these 
various substances to each other. 

It is probable that in the vast majority of all plants 
a substance is formed which is of the nature of what 
is generally called a "volatile oil" ; 'while this name is 
not strictly correct or scientific, none of the terms 
suggested as substitutes for it have ever met with 
popular acceptance. Volatile oils are odorous vola- 
tile liquids, which cause greasy stains upon paper, re- 
sembling those produced by fixed oils, but differing 
from the latter by disappearing when the stained 
paper is heated. They are freely soluble in or mis- 
cible with alcohol, ether, chloroform, benzin, benzol, 
fixed oils and bisulphide of carbon, but only to a very 
limited extent in water. Most of them exist ready 
formed in the plants, but some few, as oil of mustard 
and oil of bitter almond, are produced by peculiar 
fermentative processes of certain plant-elements in 
presence of water. 

Volatile oils are usually obtained from their plant 
sources by distillation, but sometimes, as in the case 
of orange and lemon oils, by mechanical methods. 

These oils may undergo a peculiar change, termed 
resinification, either while still in the plant-cells, liv- 
ing or dead, or after they have been separated, in 
their containers. The resin which is formed during 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 589 

this change (oxidation) may remain in solution in 
the unchanged volatile oil, when the mixture of the 
two constitutes an oleo-resin; this fluid solution of 
resin in volatile oil may be obtained by making in- 
cisions, etc., in the plant, and may come into trade as 
oleo-resin (also called "terebinthina" or "turpen- 
tine") as in the case of copaiba or Canada turpen- 
tine ; or it may exude spontaneously and the volatile 
oil may then evaporate, leaving the resin alone as a 
solid exudation on the outer surface of the stem or 
other part of the plant ; or the resin may be deposited 
in the cells of the plant (often in special cells 
or containers, which are termed "resin-ducts", 
"resin-cells", etc.), in which case they may be ob- 
tained for trade by heating the wood or other 
plant-part which contains the resin, or by dissolving 
out with some solvent and then evaporating the sol- 
vent ; or by precipitating the solution of resin in alco- 
hol or other solvent by pouring into water, decanting 
after settling and recovering the solvent by distilla- 
tion from the water. 

The oleo-resin existing in the plant may also con- 
tain benzoic, cinnamic or similar aromatic acids, and 
whether gathered in the liquid form, as an oleo-resin 
containing these balsamic acids, or as resins with the 
volatile oil evaporated, the result is a "balsam" ; the 
characteristic which makes it a balsam being the 
presence of the balsamic acid or acids, not the pres- 
ence or absence of the volatile oil. 

To come now to the consideration of this group, the 
resins. Resins are solid substances, fusible at a com- 
paratively low heat, decomposable at a high heat, 
combustible, burning with a sooty flame, insoluble in 
water, soluble in the same solvents as volatile oils, 
while some are also soluble (saponifiable) in alkaline 
liquids and ammonia. 

The latter kind of resins act chemically as acids 
and are termed resin-acids. Most resins consist of a 



590 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

mixture of resins which can be separated and which 
have different chemical properties ; in such cases they 
are distinguished by prefixing Greek names of letters, 
thus "alpha-resin' 7 , "beta-resin", etc., those having 
the most active behavior as acids being designated by 
the first letters. 

Some of the commercial resins retain insignificant 
quantities of volatile oil, or contain traces of a bal- 
samic acid, as occasionally in dragon's blood, but not 
enough of either constituent to make them either 
oleo-resins or balsams. 

The following resins exude from plants, either 
spontaneously or in consequence of incisions, punc- 
tures by insects or other injuries : Mastic, sandarac, 
dammar, copal, dragon's blood, and occasionally 
guaiac resin ; lac is a mixture of exuded resin and im- 
bedded insects ; amber is a fossil resin ; rosin is a 
residue from the destination of a volatile oil from an 
oleo-resin; and guaiac resin is often prepared by melt- 
ing the resin from the heart-wood by fire. Only a 
few of these drugs are of any importance as medi- 
cinal agents ; most of them are only used in the arts, 
for making varnishes, etc. 
Roundish, pale yellowish, trans- 
parent, brittle tears; becoming 

plastic when chewed Masticbe. 

Elongated, pale yellowish, trans- 
parent tears; crumbling when 

chewed Sandaraca. 

Roundish, yellowish or strawcol- 
ored transparent masses ; harder 

than rosin Dammara. 

Irregular spherical or angular, yel- 
lowish to brownish pieces ; trans- 
parent ; hard Copal. 

Brittle, dark-reddish-brown, opaque 

lumps. Resina Draconis. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 591 

Brittle, dark-reddish-brown sticks ; 
often wrapped in palm leaves. . . .Resina Draeonis. 

Irregular brittle masses, or large 
tears; greenish- brown to reddish- 
brown Guaiaci Resina. 

Small twigs surrounded by a brown- 
red resinous substance * . . Lacca. 

Thin, brittle, brown or reddish- 
brown scales Lacca 

Roundish or flat, pale yellowish to 
brownish-red pieces; dull exte- 
rior, glossy transparent within . . Snccmmn. 

Yellowish or brownish, transpar- 
ent, brittle masses Resina. 

Mastictae. 

N. Mastic. — o. A concrete resinous exudation, ob- 
tained by incisions in the stem of the male plant of 
Pistacia Lentiscus; Anacardiecz \ — h. Greek archi- 
pelago, Island of Ohio, and other Mediterranean 
countries. — ». Globular or elongated tears, about the 
size of peas, covered with a whitish dust (from attri- 
tion), pale yellowish, transparent, with vitreous 
fracture; brittle, but becomes plastic when chewed 
(differentiation from sandarac) ; balsamic odor, espe- 
cially when warmed, and a mild terebinthinate taste. 
— c. Trace of volatile oil, 80 to 90% alpha-resin, solu- 
ble in cold alcohol, 10% soft, sticky beta-resin, in- 
soluble in cold alcohol ; mastic is completely soluble 
in ether, but only partially soluble in alcohol. — 
U. Mild stimulant, but used almost exclusively for 
filling teeth, making varnishes, etc. 

Mastic in sorts consists of tears that are gathered 
from the ground after having dropped from the stem 
of the tree ; it is a mixture of tears, often agglutinated 
and mixed with bits of bark, sand, earth, etc. 

Mastic is sometimes adulterated with sandarac ; the 
tears of the latter are of about the same appearance. 



592 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

but more elongated, and they crumble when chewed. 
Sandaraca. 

N. Sandarac. — o. A spontaneous, concrete, resin- 
ous exudation from the stems and branches of 
Callitris quadrivalvis; Coniferce. — m. North-west- 
ern Africa (the whole of Barbaiy). — ». Elongated, 
hard, brittle tears, about 5 to 15 mm. long, covered 
with a whitish dust (from attrition), pale yellowish, 
transparent, with vitreous fracture ; crumbles when 
chewed (differentiation from mastic); odor and taste 
slightly terebinthinate and balsamic. — c. Three 
resins, differing in solubility ; soluble in ether and 
hot alcohol, partly soluble in volatile oils and chloro- 
form. — u. Mainly for fine varnishes. 

Dammara. 

jsi. Dammar. — ©. and H. A spontaneous concrete 
exudation from Agathis Dammara, a tree of the 
East Indian islands, and Agathis aus traits, a tree of 
New Zealand ; Coniferce. — ». Transparent colorless 
to straw-colored roundish masses, with vitreous con- 
choidal fracture; softer than copal, but considerably 
harder than rosin; nearly odorless and tasteless. 
"Kauri gum", the New Zealand variety of dammar, 
is often in large lumps; it also often has a faint green- 
ish tint. — c. Several resins, of which one constitut- 
ing about 60% of the drug is soluble in alcohol. — 
U. Used exclusively for making varnishes. 
Copal. 

N. Copal. — o. A spontaneous, concrete resinous 
exudation from several varieties of Trachylobium, 
Hymencea and Guibourtia; Leguminosce. — H. Africa, 
West Indies and South America. — 1>. Irregular, 
spherical, flat or angular pieces, almost as hard as 
amber, transparent or translucent, varying from al- 
most colorless or pale yellowish, to yellowish-brown 
and reddish-brown ; with vitreous conchoidal frac- 
ture; becomes changed or decomposed by melting; 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 593 

odorless and tasteless. — ©. Several resins of different 
solubilities, but all not readily soluble in cold alcohol 
or oil of turpentine. — u. For making varnishes. 

Some authors state that copal is also found in a 
fossil state ; Maisch, for instance, says this of both 
copal and Kauri gum, or New Zealand dammar, which 
latter resin is occasionally sold as copal. Berg, how- 
ever, gives very weighty reasons for doubting that 
copal ever occurs as a fossil substance. 

Resin a Draconis. 

N. Sanguis Draconis, Dragon's Blood. — o. A spon- 
taneous resinous exudation from the fruits of Calamus 
(Dczmonorofis) Draco; Palmecz. — h. Borneo, Suma- 
tra, and other East Indian islands. — d. Occurs in 
the drug-trade usually in dark, brownish-red, opaque 
sticks, about 1.5 cm. thick and up to 30 cm. long, 
wrapped in palm-leaf and tied with thin strips of 
cane, or fibers of bast; the fracture is dull, irregular, 
and somewhat brighter colored than the external sur- 
face. It also occurs in cakes, or irregular lumps, of 
the same general appearance as that in sticks, but apt 
to be mixed with impurities. The best variety is in 
tears, varying in size from that of a pea to that of a 
hazelnut, or even up to that of a walnut; usually cov- 
ered with a red dust (from attrition), and gives a deep- 
red mark on paper. This variety is not often met 
with. Odorless and nearly tasteless. — c. About 90% 
of a red acid resin, 2% fatty matter, 5% mineral sub- 
stances, etc., with occasionally traces of benzoic or 
cinnamic acid (?); it is almost completely soluble in 
alcohol, chloroform, benzol and alkalies. — u. Mild 
stimulant, occasionally used in plasters. Mainly 
used for making varnishes and lacquers. 

Similar substances were formerly obtained from 
Draccena Draco in the Canary islands; from Ptero- 
carpus Draco in the West Indies ; Draccena schiz- 
antha, in the island of Socotra; from Croton Draco in 



594 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Mexico, and from other sources, but only the above 
described article from the East Indian islands is now 
to be found in the trade. 

Gtiaiaci Resina. 

N. Guaiac Resin. — o. A concrete resinous exuda- 
tion, obtained spontaneously or by making incisions 
in the bark of the stem of Guaiacum officinale; 
Zygophyllacecz. Or the resin is melted out of the 
heartwood of this plant by means of fire, or by boil- 
ing shavings of the wood in salt brine and skimming 
off the resin as it rises to the surface. — h. West 
Indies and Northern parts of South America. — ». 1. 
In roundish or ovate tears, 1 to 2.5 cm. in diameter, 
covered externally with a greenish dust (from attri- 
tion), internally transparent, greenish or reddish- 
brown, breaking with a glossy conchoidal fracture; 
softens by the heat of the hand, but becomes tough 
when chewed; odor feebly aromatic, reminding of 
vanilla, taste somewhat acrid. 2. In irregular brittle 
masses, formed by the agglutination of smaller lumps 
or tears, also generally with a greenish dust on the 
outer surface, with a vitreous fracture, but trans- 
parent only at the edges or in thin pieces or splinters; 
otherwise with the characteristics of guaiac resin in 
tears. — c. About 15 to 30% impurities, consisting of 
fragments of bark, etc. ; about 80% resin, consisting 
of a small quantity of guaiacic acid and several resins 
(alpha-resin, beta-resin, etc.) ; guaiacol, and other 
constituents. Soluble in alkalies, alcohol, acetone, 
ether and chloroform; the alcoholic solution is col- 
ored blue on the addition of oxidizing agents, ozone, 
ferric chloride, chlorine, chromic acid, etc. — u. 
Diaphoretic, diuretic, alterative, stimulant. Dose: 
0.5 to 1 gram three times a day. 
Lacca. 

N. Lac, Shellac. — o. A peculiar resinous substance, 
consisting of resins exuded from various plants in 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 595 

consequence of the slings from the female insects oi 

Coccus Lacca; Hemiptera. As the resins exude they 
are formed into cell-like structures, mixed with cer- 
tain excretions and coloring matters from the insects 
which live in these cells. The best and most highly 
colored lacs inclose the dead insects. The plant 
from which lac is mainly produced is Aleurites lacci- 
fera {Euphorbiacecz), but also from other trees be- 
longing to the Urticacece. — h. East India and East 
Indian islands. — i>. Lac occurs in the trade in sev- 
eral forms, so that the different varieties must be 
separately described. 

1. Stick-lac. The original form in which the drug 
is obtained. After the exudation has been formed 
as above described, the small branches die; the 
female insects also die after each having deposited 20 
to 30 ova in its cell ; the encrusted twigs are gathered 
before the eggs have developed into insects, as in the 
latter case the young insects consume the red sub- 
stance of the dead mother insects, thus decreasing 
the value of the lac. Stick-lac consists of these twigs 
surrounded by the reddish-brown resinous exudation. 

2. Seed-lac. In irregular grains and fragments, 
consisting of the lac as above described, but sep- 
arated from the twigs. 

"8. Lump-lac. Stick-lac melted into lumps, after 
having been deprived of its coloring matter. 

4. Shellac. Same as the last except that the lac is 
poured out, while melted, on large leaves, quickly 
covered with another leaf and pressed into thin shell- 
like tablets or scales. This is the variety that is 
mainly used by druggists. Thin, glossy, transparent 
or translucent yellowish to dark-brown fragments or 
scales; brittle and pulverizable; odorless and tasteless. 

€. Coloring matter (lac dye) about 4% ; about 50% 
alpha-resin, soluble in alcohol and ether, brown, and 
melting readily; beta-resin, soluble in alcohol but 
not in ether, hard; gamma-resin, melting readily, 



596 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

crystallizable, uniting readily with bases; delta-resin, 
soft, readily fusible, very soluble in alkalies, alcohol 
and ether ; and epsilon-resin, insoluble in cold alco- 
hol, ether and alkalies, softens in boiling water, but 
melts only at higher temperatures and is decomposed 
thereby. The enumeration of these resins is made to 
illustrate the method of using the Greek letter-names 
and not because these 5 resins are of any special im- 
portance. — u. Lac is used as a dye; the resin, ex- 
hausted of its coloring matters, is used for sealing 
wax, varnishes, etc. 

Sncciimm. 

X. Amber (the ancient "electron")- — o. A fossil 
exudation from extinct varieties of coniferous trees, 
especially from Pinites succinifer (Picea succinifera) ; 
Conifercz. — h. It is found in soft-coal beds in Prus- 
sia, but has been found in other European countries : 
Sweden, England, Holland, Germany, Poland, 
France, Italy and Spain ; also in Asia, in Siberia, and 
in North America and Greenland. The important 
commercial source, however, is probably a coal- 
formation under the Baltic Sea, as the amber is found 
washed up by the waves on the southern coast of this 
sea, especially after storms ; it is also dug out of the 
sands of the beach, where it has accumulated in the 
course of ages. — ». Eoundish or flat pieces, the out- 
side usually worn and dull but capable of receiving a 
high polish, hard, brittle, with a vitreous conchoidai 
fracture, colorless or pale yellow ("amber-colored") 
to reddish-brown, and varying from brilliant trans- 
parency through all grades of translucency to opac- 
ity ; inodorous and tasteless, but gives off fragrant 
vapors when heated. — c. Succinic acid, traces of 
volatile oil and several resins. The "oil of amber" 
used in pharmacy is not a constituent of amber, 
but is a product of the destructive distillation of 
this drug. — u. Mainly used in the arts; the waste 
chips and raspings resulting from the making of 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 597 

. beads, jewelry, ornaments, mouth pieces for pipes, 

etc., and the inferior opaqae and dirty pieces are 

used for fumigation, for making succinic acid and oil 

of amber, and for making varnishes. 

Resina. 

N. Resina Pint, Resin, Rosin, Colophony. — © 
Obtained as a residue in the distillation of oil of tur- 
pentine from the oleo-resinous exudation which is 
obtained by incisions in the stems of Pinus palustris 
and other varieties of Pinus; Coniferce. — h. United 
States. In Europe a similar substance is obtained 
from various pine, larch and spruce trees. — ». After 
oil of turpentine has been obtained from common 
turpentine, the residue which remains in the still is 
rosin ; this, while still hot, is drawn off into rough 
barrels, where it hardens. For use it is broken into 
fragments, by chopping off the staves of the barrel 
and breaking up the mass within. It then forms 
brittle, amber-colored transparent masses, angular, 
with conchoidal resinous or vitreous fracture ; it melts 
readily ; odor and taste slightly terebinthinate. — 
C The anhydrid of abietic acid, converted into abietic 
acid by dilute alcohol ; resin is soluble in alcohol, 
ether, volatile oils, fixed oils and fats, chloroform, 
benzol, glacial acetic acid and alkalies. — u. Mild 
stimulant, used in ointments and plasters; also in 
making soaps, wagon or axle grease, etc. 

The lightest-colored and most transparent rosin is 
most highly esteemed, and darker-colored and less 
clear rosin is considered inferior. 

GROUP LXXXI. 

OLEO-RESIXS. 

For a description of. the nature of the drugs of this 
group see the introductory remarks for Group 80. 
Oleo-resins vary from fluids to soft or plastic solids. 
The word "balsam" is sometimes, but erroneously, 



598 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

we think, applied to oleo-resins; its use should be 

confined to oleo-resins or resins containing balsamic 

acids. 

Transparent, more or less viscid 
liquid ; yellowish-brown ; peculiar 
odor and bitter acrid taste Copaiba. 

Tough, plastic, nearly solid yellow- 
ish mass; terebinthinate odor 
and taste Terebinthina. 

Soft yellowish mass, granular with- 
in; odor fennel-like and taste 
terebinthinate Eiemi. 

Thick viscid, clear, transparent, 
pale-yellowish liquid ; odor tere- 
binthinate Terebinthina 

Canadensis. 

Thick viscid liquid, similar to last, 

but turbid Terebinthina 

Ten eta. 

Yellowish-brown opaque mass; 
plastic by warmth of hand, brit- 
tle when cold; conchoidal trans- 
lucent fracture Pix Bnrgnndiea. 

Dark reddish-brown opaque mass ; 
brittle when cold ; fracture resin- 
ous, translucent, conchoidal Pix Canadensis. 

Thick, sticky, viscid, blackish- 
brown liquid ; empyreumatic tere- 
binthinate odor Pix IJqnida. 

Copaiba. 

N. Copaiva; often, but erroneously, called Balsam 
Copaiva. — o. An oleoresin obtained by incising or 
boring into the stems of Copaifera Langsdorffii and 
other varieties of Copaifera; Leguminoscs. — h. 
Brazil, and along the Orinoco river in Venezuela and 
Northern part of South America. — i>. A transparent 
or translucent, more or less viscid liquid ; yellowish 
to yellowish-brown color; peculiar aromatic odor and 



NCTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 599 

bitter acrid taste. — c. About 45 to 55% volatile oil, 
but sometimes much more, sometimes less; about 
50% hard alpha-resin, the proportion varying in- 
versely as the amount of volatile oil varies; about 
1J% sticky beta-resin, etc. Copaiva is soluble in 
alcohol, ether, chloroform, benzin, volatile and fixed 
oil, etc. ; remains transparent when shaken with one- 
third of its volume of ammonia water, and it solidifies 
with about one-sixteenth of its weight of magnesia. 
— U. Stimulant blennorrhetic, diuretic, diaphoretic 
and expectorant. Dose : 0.5 to 3 or 4 grams. 

Para Copaiva is best; light-colored, transparent, 
and contains from 50 to 90% volatile oil. 

Maracaiba Copaiva is darker-colored, sometimes 
turbid, contains from 25 to 50% volatile oil, and 
solidifies more readily with magnesia. 
Terebinthina. 

N. Turpentine. — o. An oleo-resinous exudation 
from the stems of Pinus palustris and other varieties 
of Pinus; Coniferce. It exudes spontaneously but is 
mostly collected in hollows or boxes cut into the sap- 
wood of the tree. — h. United States. In Europe a 
similar substance is obtained from various pine, larch 
and spruce trees. — d. Rarely comes into trade as the 
liquid which it is when it exudes from the trees; as 
found in the trade some of the volatile oil has been 
lost or has resinified, and turpentine then is in a 
yellowish plastic opaque mass; becomes solid in the 
cold so that it can be broken with a granular fracture, 
as if it contained small quantities of water; odor 
peculiar (gives rise to the terni"terebinthinate") and 
taste bitter and acrid. — c. 20 to 30% volatile oil, 
which, when separated by distillation constitutes 
the oil of turpentine or "spirits turpentine" of trade; 
the anhydrid of abietic acid, other resins, traces of 
succinic acid, etc. See also Resina> group 80. — 
U, Not employed internally, but only in plasters, etc. 



600 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Elemi. 

W. Elemi. — o. The source of this drug, as it now 
occurs in trade, is not positively known, but it is 
probably derived from Canarium commune (Burser- 
acece), from the stem of which it is derived by making 
incisions. — ». A yellowish, resinous mass resem- 
bling solidified granular honey in consistence ; when 
old it becomes harder, and even friable ; odor strong, 
suggesting a mixture of oil of turpentine, oil of fennel 
and oil of lemon, and the taste is pungent and bitter. 
— c. About 10% volatile oil, 60% amorphous resin, 
25% crystallizable resin, etc. — u. Stimulant, irritant. 
Used only in plasters. 

Terebinlhiiia Canadensis. 

N. Canada Turpentine, Canada Balsam, Balsam of 
Fir. — o. Obtained by puncturing the vesicles which 
form on the bark of Abies balsamea; Conifercz. — 
H. Canada and Northern United States. — d. A per- 
fectly clear transparent liquid, of about the consist- 
ence of honey, viscid, pale-yellowish with sometimes 
a faint greenish tint ; odor pleasantly terebinthinate 
and taste bitterish acrid. — c. About 25 to 30% vola- 
tile oil, the balance being mainly resin, or several 
resins. When exposed to air, the oil gradually dis- 
appears, leaving a hard and perfectly clear mass; 
soluble in ether, chloroform and benzol, and partly 
soluble in alcohol. — u. Medicinally it is seldom 
used, although it is a stimulant blennorrhetic. It is 
mainly employed in making fine photographic var- 
nishes, for mounting microscopic preparations, etc. 

A very similar turpentine is obtained from Abies 
Menziesii, which is called Oreg-on Balsam of Fir. 
It resembles Canada turpentine, but becomes opaque 
and granular with age. I have made hundreds of 
lantern slides, which were painted with transparent 
oil paints and then sealed with solidified Canada tur- 
pentine. Most of these are beautifully clear, al- 
though some of them were made more than thirty 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 601 

years ago. But quite a number made in exactly the 
same way, and sealed with the resin obtained from a 
certain lot of balsam, have gradually become opaque 
from the formation of stellate clusters of crystals, and 
it is possible that they were sealed with Oregon bal- 
sam of fir. I regret that I cannot tell how to distin- 
guish this from the true Canada turpentine, as such 
knowledge would save many slides and microscopic 
preparations from being ruined. Reliable wholesale 
houses can probably give assurance on this point by 
knowing from which region they have obtained the 
article. 

Venice Turpentine is also similar to Canada tur- 
pentine, but is always slightly turbid. It is obtained 
by boring holes in the stem of Larix Etiropcza (Coni- 
fercz); these holes are closed with plugs, and every 
few days the accumulated oleo-resin is drawn off 
into bottles. It is darker-colored, usually with a pro- 
nounced greenish tint, and always less transparent 
than Canada turpentine. 

Pix Burg-uiHliea. 

N. Burgundy Pitch. — o. A purified oleo-resin, ob- 
tained from the oleo-resin of Picea {Abies) excelsa 
and Pinus pinaster {Pinus Abies), both belonging to 
the natural order Coniferce; the oleo-resin exudes 
spontaneously and after being gathered is melted, 
water being occasionally added ; it is then strained, 
and the process of repeatedly melting with added 
water and straining, finally removes all impurities 
and nearly all of the volatile oil, so that Burgundy 
pitch is almost reduced to mere resin ; in fact, Berg 
enumerates it among the group of resins. — h. In 
mountainous regions in Southern Europe. — i>. Dull 
yellowish or reddish-brown, opaque or slightly trans- 
lucent mass; hard, friable, breaking with a vitreous 
conchoidal fracture, even brittle when cold and yet 
plastic enough to gradually run together into one 
mass and to acquire the shape of the vessel in which 



602 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

it is kept, and to assume a level surface as a liquid 
would ; aromatic odor, taste terebinthinate but not 
bitter. — c. Volatile oil in varying proportions, water, 
and resin. — u. Stimulant, irritant; used only in 
plasters. 

Pix Canadensis, or Canada Pitch, Hemlock Pitch, 
sometimes erroneously called Hemlock Gum, is ob- 
tained from the bark of aged and decaying trees of 
Tsuga {Abies or Finns') Canadensis; Coniferce. 
The bark is stripped off the trees, broken in small 
pieces and boiled in water, the adherent oleo-resin 
rises to the top and is skimmed off, purified by a 
second boiling in water, again strained and allowed 
to separate from the water and harden. It is hard, 
brittle, yet quite plastic, dark reddish- brown, almost 
odorless and tasteless, and is used precisely like Bur- 
gundy pitch. 

Pix Liqnida. 

N. Tar, Pine Tar (as distinguished from coal-tar). 
— O. An empyreumatic oleo-resin obtained by de- 
structive distillation from the wood of different 
varieties of Finns; Coniferce. — h. United States. 
Similar products are also prepared in Europe, but the 
native article supplies our trade. — ». A thick, viscid, 
sticky, blackish-brown liquid, opaque in bulk, trans- 
parent in thin layers; becomes thicker, granular and 
more opaque; odor strongly empyreumatic and tere- 
binthinate, taste acrid empyreumatic and bitter- 
ish. — c. The composition is variable. Tar contains 
a volatile oil, crude acetic (pyroligneous) acid, pyro- 
catechin, acetone, phenols, creosote, etc. Tar is in- 
soluble in water, but imparts to it a small proportion 
of its constituents ; it sinks in water. It is soluble 
in alcohol, ether, chloroform, volatile oils, fixed oils 
and fats, and in solutions of potassa and soda. — u. 
Stimulant blennorrhetic in doses of 0.03 to 1 gram ; 
externally in ointments, plasters, etc., when it acts 
as an irritant and parasiticide. 



NCTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 603 

North Carolina and Swedish tars are esteemed 
as best. 

Birch tar is a similar substance, made from the 
wood of Be tula alba; Cupuliferce. It contains a large 
proportion of pyrocatechin, and is esteemed on ac- 
count of its pecular odor which is well known as the 
odor of Eussia leather. 

Beectj tar is made from the wood of Fagus Syl- 
vatica {Cupuliferce) and is generally considered as 
the best source for obtaining creasote for internal 
use. 

Juniper tar, oil of cade or Oleum Cadinum, is de- 
rived from the wood of Juniperus oxycedras; Coni- 
fercz. It is more liquid than pine tar and has a some- 
what different odor. 

GROUP LXXXII. 

BALSAMS. 

As already explained in the introductory remarks 
to group 80, balsams are either resins or oleo-resins 
in combination with balsamic acids — with either one 
or more of benzoic, cinnamic or other analogous 
acids, for instance. It is true that this is not the uni- 
versally accepted definition for "balsam", and that 
the word balsam is used by some authors, Maisch, 
for instance, for oleo-resins with balsamic acids and 
by Berg for oleo-resins with and without balsamic 
acids (thus making the w T ord synonymous with oleo- 
resin), and in both cases making the presence of the 
volatile oil the characteristic of a balsam. If it is de- 
sirable to distinguish between oleo-resin and balsam, 
as Maisch does, and if the presence or absence of 
aromatic or balsamic acids is made the basis of such 
differentiation, then every argument would apply 
equally as strongly in favor of differentiating between 
resins with and resins without balsamic acids ; and if 
the presence of these acids in oleo-resins is held to 
constitute the characteristics of "balsams", then the 



604 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

presence of the acids is the important feature and not 
the presence of the oil, and therefore a resin contain- 
ing these acids should be called a balsam also. This 
is done in the classification used in these notes. No 
important practical gain is achieved by making dis- 
tinction between the two kinds of balsam, and we 
therefore make none. 
A solid brown mass with whitish 
tears imbedded in it; strong bal- 
samic odor Benzoimim. 

Nearly solid yellowish-brown sub- 
stance of uniform consistence; 

strong balsamic odor Balsamum 

Tolutannm. 

A thick, syrupy, brownish-black 

liquid; somewhat smoky bal- 
samic odor . . Balsamum 

Periiviaiiimi. 

Thick, viscid, gray, opaque, semi- 
solid substance; with agreeable 

balsamic odor Sly rax. 

Thick, brownis h-y e 1 1 o w, clear 
liquid, or almost solid substance; 

Odor balsamic Liquidambar. 

Benzoimim. 
N. Benzoin. — o. A resinous balsam obtained by 
making incisions in the stem of Styrax Benzoin; 
Styracece. — h. Sumatra, Java and Siam. — i> Lumps 
or irregular masses of a yellowish-brown resinous 
substance in which tears are imbedded which are 
milky-white within ; gives off fumes of benzoic acid 
when heated; odor agreeably balsamic, taste aro- 
matic but somewhat acrid. — c. 12 to 20% benzoic 
acid, about 80% of resins, some cinnamic acid, vanil- 
lin, etc. Benzoic acid is obtained from benzoin 
by sublimation, but is also obtained from other 
sources, and especially from hippuric acid (the urine 
of horses and cows). — u. Stimulant blennorrhetic, 



NOTES 'ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 605 

expectorant. Dose: 0.5 to 2 grams. Also for tooth- 
washes, cosmetics, etc.; mainly for making benzoic 
acid. 

There are three principal kinds of benzoin: 

Siam Benzoi?i in tears, consisting of separate 
tears, about 2.5 cm. in diameter, externally pale red- 
dish-brown, internally waxy and milk-white ; in small 
fragments translucent; very agreeable vanilla-like 
odor. This is the best variety of benzoin. 

Siam benzoin in masses, composed mainly of tears, 
as just described, but agglutinated and held in solid 
masses by a reddish-brown or brick-red resin. 

Both kinds of Siam benzoin dissolve almost en- 
tirely in moderately warm alcohol. 

Sumatra or Penang benzoin is in grayish-brown to 
chocolate-colored masses, without any distinct tears; 
odor agreeable but fainter than that of Siam benzoin. 
It contains about 10% cinnamic acid and correspond- 
ingly less benzoic acid; also pieces of bark, etc. 

Balsamnm Tolntaxumi. 

N. Tolu Balsam, Tolu, Balsam of Tola. — o. A bal- 
sam which is obtained by makiug deep Y-shaped in- 
cisions in the bark of Myroxylon toluifera; Legumi- 
nosce. — h. Venezuela and New Granada. — B. A 
light-brown, slow-flowing resin, soft enough to yield 
to the pressure of the finger, but not viscid or sticky ; 
assumes the shape of the container and attains a 
levels surface; in cold weather it becomes brittle; 
odor very agreeably aromatic, taste aromatic, not 
acrid. — c. About 1% volatile oil (tolene), cinnamic 
acid (but little benzoic acid), benzoate and cinnamate 
of benzyl, one resin readily soluble in alcohol and 
one resin not soluble in alcohol, etc. — u. Mildly ex- 
pectorant, but only used for flavoring purposes, in 
syrup, as an ingredient of chewing gums, etc. 

Balsamnm Pernviannm. 

N. Balsam of Peru. — o. A balsam, obtained from 



606 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Myroxylon Pereira; Leguminosce. It is obtained by 
first beating the bark of the tree with the back of an 
axe, leaving strips of sound bark between the parts 
bruised ; the bruised bark is charred with torches five 
or six days afterwards and a week or so later it can 
be readily removed or falls off; the bare wood is then 
covered with rags which absorb the exuding balsam, 
and when saturated these rags are taken off, gently 
boiled in water in which the balsam sinks, then ex- 
pressed. — ». A liquid having the appearance of 
sugar-house molasses, brownish-black, in thin layers 
reddish or orange-brown and transparent; smoky 
balsamic odor and bitterish acrid taste. — c. About 
60% of cinnamein or benzylid cinnamate which is an 
oily aromatic liquid, about 30% resin, about 6% cin- 
namic acid, benzoic acid, etc. With age it resinifies, 
so that the proportion of resin increases, and it 
darkens in color. Soluble in alcohol and chloroform ; 
partly soluble and miscible with fixed oils and fats. 
— C. Sometimes used internally as a stimulant blen- 
norrhetic in doses of 0.5 to 2 grams. But mainly 
used as an ingredient of ointments for chilblains, 
sore nipples, ulcers and itch. 
Slyrax. 

N. Storax. — o. A balsam obtained by boiling and 
pressure from the inner bark of Liquid atnbar orien- 
talist Hamamelidece. — m. Asia Minor. — i>. Semi- 
liquid, gray, opaque, viscid substance, from which a 
heavier dark-brown, transparent stratum separateson 
standing; odor balsamic, taste balsamic acrid. — 
c. Styrol, cinnamic acid, styracin and other cinnamic 
ethers, resin, etc. — u. Stimulant expectorant, blen- 
norrhetic. Dose : About 1 gram several times a day. 
Mainly, however, externally, as an ingredient of 
liniments and ointments. 

JLiqnidambar is a similar substance, obtained from 
Liquidambar styraciflua; Hamamelidcz. This tree 
is found in the United States, Mexico and Central 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. ■ 607 

America. Liquidambar, or Sweet Gum, varies from 
a clear, thick, brownish-yellow fluid to a transparent 
yellowish-brown resin, which breaks with a resinous 
fracture when cold; plastic by the warmth of the 
hand ; odor balsamic, resembling storax, and taste 
balsamic acrid. — c. About 54% cinnamic acid, resin, 
aromatic oily substance, etc. — r. Like those of 
Storax. 

GROUP LXXXIII. 

VOLATILE OILS. 

The nature of volatile oils has been described in 
the introductory remarks to group 80. It is a ques- 
tion whether these substances should be considered 
as drugs and I am inclined to hold, that, with per- 
haps a very few exceptions they should rather be 
held to be preparations. 

It is certain that they cannot be recognized by the 
ordinary physical characteristics, which enable us to 
recognize other drugs; nor can the quality be judged 
by their appearance, as we can do more or less satis- 
factorily in the case of other drugs. 

The identity (not the quality or purity) of volatile 
oils can be recognized from an organoleptic property, 
the odor, but this cannot be described nor can an 
idea of it be conveyed by words. To say that oil of 
coriander has the odor of coriander conveys no idea 
to one who has not smelled coriander. The tests for 
purity are partly optical, by observing their behavior 
on polarized light, some of them rotating the plane of 
polarization to the right when they are called dextro- 
gyrate (dextrogyre), while some others rotate the 
plane of polarization to the left when they are called 
levo-gyrate (levogyre), while yet others are optically 
inactive ; other tests are physical, as for instance, 
their specific gravity ; the color is an organoleptic 
test, and moreover, is very variable, since nearly all 
volatile oils are nearly colorless when fresh, while 



608 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

many become yellowish, reddish, dark-red to dark- 
brown and even dark-blue when older. Volatile oils 
frequently resinify and become thicker as they be- 
come older. They should therefore be kept in well- 
closed containers. The main tests for purity, how- 
ever, are chemical, and volatile oils are therefore 
treated of at length in works on pharmaceutical 
chemistry or on pharmacy, and in colleges of phar- 
macy they are considered by the professor of phar- 
macy and not by the professor of materia medica and 
pharmacognosy. 

For these reasons volatile oils will not be consid- 
ered at length in these Notes, but the source and 
uses only will be mentioned in the briefest possible 
manner. For physical and chemical characteristics 
the student is referred to Remington's, Coblentz's or 
Caspari's Pharmacy, or one of the Dispensatories. 

In all cases where no medicinal uses are stated the 
oils are mainly employed as perfumes in the manu- 
facture of perfumery, soaps and cosmetic articles gen- 
erally, but the same use is also made of many of those 
which are mentioned as medicinal agents. 

Probably the only volatile oil that need be men- 
tioned as a drug, is oil of turpentine. 
A clear, limpid liquid with tere- 

binthinate odor Oleum 

Terebintbinse. 
Oleum Terebinthinse. 

N. Oil of Turpentine, Spirits of Turpentine, gener- 
ally spoken of as "turpentine." — o. Obtained by 
distillation from the oleoresin of various kinds of 
Pinus; Coniferce. — h. The South-eastern States of 
the United States furnish the oil of turpentine used 
in this country. — ». A clear, limpid, neutral liquid, 
with a terebinthinate odor and bitterish terebinthin- 
ate taste. — c. It is the type of the terpenes, or hydro- 
carbons: C 10 H T6 ; bromine and powdered iodine act 
violently on it; it ignites on being added to a mix- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 609 

ture of sulphuric and nitric acids. — r. Asa stimu- 
lant blennorrhetic ; it has a peculiar and almost 
specific action in typhoid fever, in which it is very 
highly esteemed. Dose: 0.3 to 2 cc. Also used as a 
vehicle or solvent in paints, varnishes, etc. 

Oil of Allspice, Oleum Pimentcz; obtained by dis- 
tillation from the fruit of Eugenia Plmenta; Myr- 
tacece. Stimulaut, stomachic and carminative. Dose: 
0.2 to 0.3 cc. (3 to 5 drops). 

Oil of Amber, Oleum Succini; obtained by the de- 
structive distillation of amber, afterwards rectified. 
Stimulant and antispasmodic. Dose : 0.3 to 0.5 cc. 
(5 to 10 drops). 

Oil of Anise, Oleum A nisi; obtained by distilla- 
tion from the fruits of Pimpinella Anisum; Umbelli- 
fercz. Stimulant, carminative. Dose : 0.3 to 0.5 cc. 
(5 to 10 drops). 

Oil of Bay, Oil of Myrcia, Oleum Myrcicz; a vola- 
tile oil distilled from the leaves of Myrcia acris; 
Myrtacecz. Used in making bay rum. 

Oil of Bergamot, Oleum Bergamotlae; obtained by 
expression from the rind of the fresh fruit of Citrus 
Bergamia; Rutacece {Aurantiacecz). Used as a 
perfume. 

Oil of Bitter Almond, Oleum Amygdalcz Amarcz; 
produced by distillation from bitter almonds macer- 
ated with water, the oil being formed by the re- 
action of water on amygdalin by the intervention of 
emulsin; amygdalin and emulsin are constituents of 
the seeds of Prunus Amygdalus; Rosacecz. Acts as 
a powerful depressant, like hydrocyanic acid. Dose : 
% of a drop, cautiously increased until an effect is 
noticed. Also used as a flavor in weak dilutions. 
See, also, oil of mirbane. 

Oil of Cajnpnt, Oil of Cajeput, Oleum Cajuputi; dis- 
tilled from the leaves of Melaleuca Leucadendron; 
Myrtacecz. Stimulant, carminative ; in colic ; exter- 



610 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

nally in rheumatism, etc. Dose : 0.3 to 1 cc. (5 to 
20 drops). 

Oil of Caraway, Oleum Cart; distilled from the 
fruits of Carum Carui; Umbelliferce. As a flavor, 
and as a stimulant carminative; prevents griping. 
Dose : 0.05 to 0.5 (1 to 8 drops). 

Oil of Cardamom, Oleum Cardamomi; distilled 
from the seeds of Elettaria repens; Scitaminece. 
Used as a flavor. 

Oil of Cassia, Oleum Cinnamomi; a volatile oil dis- 
tilled from the bark of Cinnamomum Cassia, derived 
from undetermined species of Cinnamomum; Lau- 
rinecz. Carminative; in colic, etc. Dose: 0.05 to 0.3 
cc. (1 to 5 drops). 

Oil of Ceylon Cinnamon is similar, but not often 
used. 

Oil of Citron eiia, Oleum Andropogonis Nardi; ob- 
tained by distillation from Andropogon Nardus; 
Graminece. Used as a perfume. 

Oil of Cloves, Oleum Caryophylli; obtained by dis- 
tillation from the unopened flowers of Eugenia aro- 
matica; Myrtacecz. Stimulant, aromatic and carmin- 
ative ; also local narcotic in toothache from carious 
teeth. Dose : 0.05 to 0.3 cc. (1 to 5 drops). 

Oil of Copaiba, Oleum Copaibae; obtained by dis- 
tillation from Copaiba, Stimulant and alterative, 
blennorrhetic and anti-gonorrhceic. Dose: 0.05 to 
0.75 cc. (1 to 12 drops). 

Oil of Coriander, Oleum Coriandri; obtained by 
distillation from the fruit of Coriandrum sativum; 
Umbelliferce, Carminative, but used mainly as a 
delicate and agreeable flavoring agent in elixirs, etc. 

Oil of Cnbeb, Oleum Cubebce; distilled from the un- 
ripe fruit of Piper Cubeba; Piperacecz. Stimulant, 
blennorrhetic and anti-gonorrhceic. Dose: 0.5 cc. 
(about 8 drops), gradually increased as necessary. 



NCTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 611 

Oil of Bill, Oleum Anethi; distilled from the fruit 
of Anethum graveolens; Umbelliferce. Carminative. 
Dose : 0.05 to 0.25 cc. (1 to 4 drops). 

Oil of Eucalyptus, Oleum Eucalypti; obtained by 
distillation from the leaves of Eucalyptus globulus; 
Myrtacece. Antispasmodic and antineuralgic. Dose: 
0.3 to 0.5 cc. (5 to 10 drops), in capsules. 

Oil of Fennel, Oleum Foeniculi; distilled from the 
fruit of Fceniculum vulgare; Umbelliferce, Carmin- 
ative, antispasmodic. Dose : 0.3 to 1 cc. (5 to 15 
drops). 

Oil of Fieabane, Oil of Canada Fleabane, Oil of 
Erigeron, Oleum Erigerontis; obtained by distilla- 
tion from the fresh-no weriug herb of Erigeron Cana- 
dense; Composite?. Acts like oil of turpentine in 
diarrhoeas, dysentery and hemorrhages. Dose: 0.5 
to 1 cc. (10 to 15 drops) in capsules. 

Oil of lhiang-iniang, see Ylang-Ylang. 

Oil of Juniper, Oleum Juniperi; a volatile oil dis- 
tilled from the fruit of Juniperus communis; Coni- 
ferce. Stimulant, carminative and diuretic. Dose: 
0.3 to 0.5 cc. (5 to 10 drops). 

Oil of Lavender Flowers, Oleum Lavandula; dis- 
tilled from the flowers or flowering tops of Lavan- 
dula vera; Labiates. The best oil is made from the 
flowers alone. Mainly as flavor or perfume. 

Oil of Lemon, Oleum Limonis, Oleum Citri; ob- 
tained by mechanical means from the rind of the 
fruit of Citrus Limonwn; Rutacece (Aurantiacece) . 
Used as a flavor. 

OU of Lemon Grass, Oleum Andropogonis; distilled 
from Andropogon citratus and other grasses of the 
genus Andropogon; Graminece. As a perfume. 

Oil of Mace, Oleum Macis; distilled from the aril- 
lus of Myristica fragrans; Myristicaceae. For 
flavoring. 



612 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Oil of Mirbane, Nitrobenzol, Artificial Oil of Bitter 
Almonds; a synthetic product. As a perfume and 
flavor. 

Oil of Mustard, Oleum Sinapis volatile; a volatile 
oil obtained from the seeds of Brassica alba (Cru- 
ciferae) by maceration with water and subsequent 
distillation. The oil does not exist in the seed, but 
is produced by the decomposition of sinigrin (potas- 
sium myronate) under the influence of myrosin, an 
albuminous ferment, in presence of water. Used as 
an external stimulant and counter-irritant. 

Oil of Neroli, is the best grade of Oil of Orange 
Flowers, which see. 

Oil of Nutmeg, Oleum Myristicae, Oleum Nucis- 
tae aethereum; a volatile oil distilled from the seeds 
of Myristica fragrans; Myristicaceae. Carminative 
in doses of about 0.1 to 0.2 cc. (2 to 3 drops), but 
mainly employed as a flavor. 

Oil of Orange Flowers, Oleum Aurantii Flores, Oil 
of Neroli; distilled from the fresh flowers of the 
bitter orange, Citrus vulgaris; Rutaceae (Auranti- 
aceae). Used for flavoring and perfume. 

Oil of Orange Peel, Oleum Aurantii Corticis; a 
volatile oil obtained by expression from the rind of 
the bitter orange, Citrus vulgaris, or the sweet 
orange, Citrus Aurantium ; Rutaceae (Aurantiaceae) . 
Used for flavoring and perfume. 

Oil of Origanum; commercial oil of origanum is 
oil of thyme, which see. 

Oil of Patchouli, Oleum Pogostemonis, distilled 
from the leaves of Pogostemon Patchouli; Labiatae. 
Used in perfumery mainly on account of its confer- 
ring lasting properties on other more delicate and 
evanescent perfumes. 

Oil of Pennyroyal, Oleum Hedeomae; distilled from 
the leaves and flowering tops of Hedeoma pulegi- 
oides; Labiatae. Carminative and emmenagogue. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 613 

Dose: 0.1 to 0.5 cc. (2 to 10 drops). Used also as a 
local application to keep away mosquitos. 

Oil of Peppermint, Oleum Menthae Piperita c; ob- 
tained by distillation from the whole plant Mentha 
piperita; Labiatae. Stimulant carminative in flatu- 
lence, colic, etc. Dose: 0.1 to 0.3 cc. (2 to 5 drops). 

Oil of Rhodium (genuine) is said to be obtained 
from the root (wood?) of Convolvulus scoparius (?) 
or from Genista Canariensis (?), authors not agree- 
ing on the subject. Commercial oil of rhodium is 
said to be a mixture of 1 part of oil of rose with 20 
parts oil of copaiba; it is used as a lure or bait for 
rats and other animals, and is also said to be used by 
tamers and trainers of animals. 

Oil of Rose, Oleum Rosae, Otto of Roses, Attar of 
Roses; obtained by distillation from the fresh flowers 
of Rosa Damascena; Rosaceae. Used for flavoring 
and perfumery. 

Oil of Rosemary, Oleum Rosmarini; a volatile oil 
distilled from the leaves of Rosmarinus officinalis; 
Labiates. Stimulant carminative in doses of 0.1 to 
0.3 cc. (2 to 5 drops), but mainly used as an external 
stimulant in liniments. 

Oil of Roe, Oleum Rut<z; distilled from the whole 
herb Ruta graveolens; Rutaceae. Local irritant, in 
large doses causing intestinal inflammation and con- 
vulsions ; used as an emmenagogue in doses of 0.1 to 
0.3 cc. (2 to 5 drops) every 2 or 3 hours. 

Oil of Sandal Wood, Oleum Santali, Oil of Santal ; 
obtained by distillation from the wood of Santalum 
album; Santalaceez. Blennorrhetic, anti-gonorrhceic. 
Dose : About 1 cc, in capsules. 

Oil of Sassafras, Oleum Sassafras; obtained by dis- 
tillation from the bark of Sassafras variifolium; 
Laurineez. Used for flavoring. 

Oil of Savin, Oleum Sabinee; distilled from the 
tops of Jiuiiperus Sabina; Conifercz. Powerful em- 
menagogue, in large doses abortifacient, and gastro- 



614 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

intestinal irritant and poison. Dose: 0.1 to 0.3 cc. 
(2 to 5 drops) ; a quantity sufficiently large to pro- 
duce abortion is very apt also to kill the woman. 

Oil of Spearmint, Oleum Mentha Viridis; ob- 
tained by distillation from the fresh-flowering herb 
Mentha viridis; Labiates, Stimulant carminative 
in flatulence, colic, etc. Dose: 0.1 to 0.3 cc. (2 to 5 
drops). 

Oil of Star Anise, Oleum Illicii; most of the com- 
mercial oil of anise is really oil of star anise. See 
Oil of Anise. 

Oil of Sweet Siren, Oleum Betulee Volatile; a vol- 
atile oil from the bark of Betula lenta; Betulaceez. 
Nearly identical with oil of wintergreen, and used in 
the same manner. See Oil of Wintergreen. 

Oil of Tansy, Oleum Tanaceti; distilled from the 
leaves of Tanacetum vulgare; Composite?. Some- 
times used for criminal purposes, to produce abor- 
tion; very uncertain and very dangerous in its 
action. 

Oil of Tar, Oleum Picis Liquidee; a volatile oil 
distilled from pine tar. Blennorrhetic, expectorant. 
Dose: 0.05 to 0.3 cc. (1 to 5 drops). 

Oil of Thyme, Oleum Thymi; this oil is also 
usually sold as "oil of origanum" ; obtained by dis- 
tillation from the leaves and flowering tops of Thy- 
mus vulgaris; Labiatee. Diffusible stimulant and 
antiseptic. Dose: 0.1 to 0.5 or 1 cc. (2 to 8 or 15 
drops). 

Oil ©f Wintergreen, Oleum Gaultheriez; a volatile 
oil distilled from the fresh leaves of Gaultheria pro- 
cumbens; Ericaceee. Mainly used for flavoring, but 
is occasionally used as an anti-rheumatic, like sali- 
cylic acid. 

Oil of Worm-seed, Oleum Chenopodii^ Oil of Amer- 
ican Worm seed ; obtained by distillation from the 
fruit of Chenopodium ambrosioides, var. anthelmin- 
ticum Chenopodiaceee. Anthelmintic. Dose: 0.25 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 615 

to 0.5 cc. (4 to 8 drops) for a child, morning and 
evening, followed by a brisk cathartic. 

Oil of Yiang-Yiang, distilled from the flowers of 
Cananga odorata. Used only in the manufacture of 
perfumery. 

GROUP LXXXIV. 

FIXED VEGETABLE OILS AND FATS. 

Fixed oils and fats are contained in the cells of 
many plants, especially in the seeds of many plants. 
From these sources they may be obtained by expres- 
sion between warmed steel cylinders, more rarely by 
boiling in water and skimming, or by the aid of sol- 
vents such as benzin, benzole, ether, bisulphide of 
carbon, etc. 

Fatty oils are neutral, lighter than water and in- 
soluble in it, only slightly soluble in alcohol, except 
castor oil, which is freely soluble in it, usually color- 
less or pale-yellowish, more or less bland and in- 
sipid, not volatilizable, burn wilh a clear flame by 
aid of a wick, make permanent fatty stains in bibu- 
lous paper, rendering the paper translucent. Ex- 
posed to the air, they gradually absorb oxygen and 
become rancid (non-drying oils) or dry to a trans- 
parent hard substance (drying oils). 

In composition they vary somewhat, but consist 
mainly of a mixture of fatty bodies termed glycer- 
ides, of which stearin, palmitin and olein are the 
more important ones; stearin and palmitin prepon- 
derate in the solid fats, olein in the fluid fats or oils. 
By the action of strong bases these glycerides are de- 
composed, the base uniting with the stearic, palmitic 
and oleic acids of the glycerides and glycerin being 
liberated or produced. If the base used for this pur- 
pose is an alkali, as when potash or soda lye is used, 
the salts of the fatty acids are called soaps; if the 
base is litharge (an oxide of lead), the resulting salts 
of the fatty acids are called p la sters. 



616 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

We will divide the vegetable oils into three sub- 
divisions to facilitate recognition: Solid Fats, Soft- 
Solid or Semi-Liquid Fats, and Liquid Fats or Oils. 
It is customary to call all of them "oils", regardless 
of tbeir consistence. 

A division into "Drying Oils" and "Non-drying 
Oils" is, of course, of no value in a system of phar- 
macognosy intended for the use of the retail pharma- 
cist, even though by the addition of nitrous acid, 
which causes non-drying oils to solidify within a few 
days, the distinction can be made. 

But it is of value to know that drying oils are of 
use in paints and varnishes, and in making the 
"body" of tube oil colors, etc. The most important 
drying oil is linseed oil; poppy oil, walnut seed oil 
and hempseed oil are also drying oils, used in the 
preparation of artists' materials, but of no import- 
ance to pharmacists. 

Unfortunately, in this group, as in the previous one, 
the organoleptic properties of odor and taste, which 
cannot be described, are the most reliable character- 
istics for identification and the student is advised to 
familiarize himself with them. 

The animal oils and fats have been considered in 
their proper places, groups 6, 7 and 8. 

Solid Vegetable Fats: 
Consistence of tallow, yellowish- 
white, Odor of chocolate But y rum Cacao. 

Consistence of tallow, orange-col- 
ored or mottled white and brown- 
ish, odor of nutmeg Bntyrum Nncistse. 

Solid diaphanous substance resem- 
bling white wax Paraffimim. 

Bear in mind also the animal fats: 
Hard, white, somewhat glossy 

masses. (See group 6) Acidum 

Stearicum. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 617 

White, solid fatty masses. (See 

group 6) Seviim. 

Semisolid fats: 

Of the consistence of butter or 
lard, granular, green Oleum Lauri. 

Of the consistence of butter, white; 
disagreeable odor Oleum Coeois. 

Of the consistence of butter, 
orange-colored; violet-like odor, .oieum Paimsp. 

Of the consistence of a cerate or 
ointment, yellowish, slightly 

fluorescent Petrolatum. 

Bear in mind also the animal fats: 

Soft, white, unctuous fatty sub- 
stance. (See group 7) Adeps. 

Soft, yellowish- white fatty sub- 
stance. (See group 7) Adeps I^ana*. 

Liquid oils: 

Thin, clear, pale-yellow oil, with 
nutty odor and bland taste ©i. Amygdaiw 

Expr. 

Pale-yellow oil, without odor and 
with a bland nutty taste ©i. Gossypu. 

Yellowish to yellowish-brown oil, 
with peculiar odor and bland 

taste ©i e !Lini. 

Pale-yellow, or light greenish-yel- 
low oil, peculiar odor and nutty 
taste ©1. ©livae. 

Viscid, nearly colorless oil, odor 
mildly nauseous, taste bland, but 
afterwards acrid ©i. nieim. 

Yellowish oil, odorless, and with a 
bland, nut-like taste . . ©i. sesami. 

Yellowish-brown , somewhat viscid ; 

odor unpleasant and taste acrid .©i. Tigiii. 



618 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Bear in mind also the animal oils: 
Yellowish to brownish oil with 

fishy odor. (See group 8) 01. Morriwse. 

Pale yellowish or colorless fixed 

oil. (See group 8) oi. Adipis. 

Pale yellow to yellowish-brown 

oil. (See group 8) oi. Bubuium. 

Oleum Tneobromatis Expressnm. 

M. Butyrum Cacao, Oil of Theobroma, Butter of 
Cacao. — o. Obtained by expression between heated 
plates, from the seeds of Theobroma Cacao; Ster- 
culiacece, — h. South America. — ». Yellowish- white, 
becoming white by age, solid, harder than tallow; 
odor aromatic, taste bland and chocolate-like. — 
c. Stearin, olein, etc. ; sp. gr. about 0.95. — u. For 
making suppositories. 

Oleum Myristiese Expressnm. 

N, Oleum Nucistcey Butyrum Nucistce, Butter of 
Nutmeg. — o. Obtained by expression between heated 
plates from the ground seeds of Myristica fragrans; 
Myristicacece. — h. Cultivated in the Molucca Islands. 

— ». Brick-shaped blocks, of the consistence of tal- 
low, granular, orange-colored or mottled white and 
brownish; odor and taste aromatic, nutmeg-like. 

— c. About 25 to 30% myristin, olein, palmitin, some 
volatile oil; sp. gr. about 0.99). — u. Mainly em- 
ployed externally in ointments; of no particular 

value. 

Paraffinum. 

N. Paraffine. — o. Obtained from the solid residues 
when coal-oil, etc., are distilled from crude rock-oil 
or petroleum; also from minerals saturated with 
hydrocarbons, especially shale. We have neither 
time nor space to discuss here whether these sub- 
stances are altogether, or even mainly, fossil oils of 
vegetable origin as is generally held, or whether they 
are also in part, or mainly, or altogether, the product 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 619 

of animals of previous geologic ages, as is contended 
by others. We simply accept the generally received 
theory and ascribe them to vegetable origin without 
wishing to have this construed into an expression of 
opinion on a mooted question in a department of 
science on which the writer possesses insufficient 
knowledge to entitle him to express an opinion. Fos- 
sil or rock oils bear the same relation to recent vege- 
table (or animal?) oils as does amber to recent oleo- 
resins and resins, or does asphaltum to recent pitch. 

— i>. A white, waxy substance, harder than tallow, 
softer than wax ; odorless and tasteless. — c. Made 
up of hydrocarbons between C 24 H A0 and C 27 H 56 ; sp. 
gr. about 0.877; it is not affected by strong mineral 
acids and is therefore used to seal stoppers in bottles 
and carboys containing the latter. — u. Medicinally, 
none; in the arts it is used in many ways, as in 
paraffined paper, making candles, etc. 

Oleum Lauri. 

n. Laurel Oil. — o. A fixed oil obtained by macer- 
ating the mashed fruit of Laurus nobilis {Laurinece) 
in hot water for several hours and then expressing. 

— H. Levant and Southern Europe. — ». Of the con- 
sistence of butter or ointment, granular, green color; 
with a strong odor of the fruit; taste aromatic, spicy, 
bitter. — c. Sp. gr. about 0.85 to 0.90; laurin, olein, 
volatile oil, etc. — sj. Used in liniments and oint- 
ments. A use not generally mentioned is, that it is 
obnoxious to mosquitoes ; moreover when mixed with 
pennyroyal oil the latter is not as readily dissipated 
as when it is applied in the form of an alcoholic 
spirit or solution. Pennyroyal oil mixed with laurel 
oil has been found an excellent protector against 
mosquitoes by the author on his fishing trips. 

Oleum Cocois, or Cocoa Nut Oil, is obtained in 
tropical countries from the seeds of Co cos nucifera 
{Palmece) by boiling in water and expressing. It is 



620 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

white, of the consistence of butter, and has a dis- 
agreeable odor because it becomes rancid so rapidly 
that it is rare to meet with a sample of fresh oil. 
Only used in the manufacture of soaps and hair oils, 
and to some extent in cosmetic preparations. 

Oleum Palmse, or Palm Oil, is obtained in tropical 
countries from the fruits of Elceis Guineensis 
{Palmecz) by boiling the fruits in water and express- 
ing. It is harder than butter and orange-colored; 
odor violet-like, agreeable; easily becomes rancid 
and offensive. Used for making candles, soaps, etc.; 
not an article in the retail drug-trade, but much used 

by printers. 

Petrolatum. 

N. Petrolatum, Vaseline, Cosmoline, etc. — o. Sim- 
ilar to that of paraffine, which see. "A mixture of 
hydrocarbons, chiefly of the marsh-gas series, ob- 
tained by distilling off the lighter and more volatile 
portions from petroleum and purifying the residue 
when it has the desired melting point" (U. S. P.). 
— ». Of the consistence of a cerate or ointment ; 
yellowish, with a slight greenish fluorescence. The 
substance may be prepared, however, of any consist- 
ence, from a liquid condition to that of a stiff cerate. 
In pharmacy it is mainly employed as a base or vehi- 
cle for ointments and therefore petrolatum of the 
consistence of an ointment {petrolatum molle, melt- 
ing point about 40° to 45° C, sp. gr. at 60° C. 0.820 
to 0.840) or of a cerate {petrolatum spissum, melting 
point about 45° to 51° C, sp. gr. at 60° C. 0.820 to 
0.850) is most frequently used. 

Oleum Amygdalse Expressum. 

w. Almond Oil, Sweet Oil of Almonds. — o. A fixed 
oil expressed from the seeds of Prunus Amygdalus 
(Amygdalus communis); Rosacea? . Made from 
both sweet and bitter almonds, but mainly from 
the bitter variety; the press-cake of bitter almonds 
is then macerated with water and oil of bitter 



NCTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 621 

almonds distilled from it; the press-cake of sweet 
almonds is ground and sold as "almond meal" as a 
cosmetic. — m. Cultivated in the Orient, Mediter- 
ranean countries and California. — ». Thin, clear, 
pale-yellow oil with nutty odor and bland taste. — €. 
Mainly olein, a little palmitin ; sp. gr. about 0.918. — 
U. Demulcent, slightly laxative. Dose: 5 to 15 cc, 

best in emulsion. 

Oleum Gossypii. 

Bf. Cotton Seed Oil. — o. The fixed oil expressed 
from the seeds of Gossypium herbaceum {Malvacecz) 
is purified and bleached. — h. Subtropical countries; 
mainly Southern part of United States. — d. Pale 
yellow oil, without odor and with a bland nutty 
taste. — €. Olein, palmitin, and yellow coloring prin- 
ciple ; sp. gr. about 0.922 to 0.925. — jj. Demulcent. 
Mainly used for culinary purposes, for making sub- 
stitutes for lard, etc. 

Oleum Uui. 

N. Linseed Oil. — o. A fixed oil expressed from the 
seeds of Linum tisitatissimum; Linecz. — b.. Culti- 
vated in the Levant, Europe and United States. — 
D. A yellowish to yellowish-brown limpid oil with 
peculiar odor and bland taste. — c, Mainly linolein, 
which makes it a "drying oil", some palmitin, 
myristin, etc. ; sp. gr. about 0.935. — u. Seldom used 
internally, but occasionally used externally as an in- 
gredient of Carron Oil, or lime liniment, used as an 
application in burns, as a protective. Mainly used in 
paints, varnishes, etc. 

Bosied Linseed Oil is prepared by boiling linseed 
oil with so-called "dryers", such as litharge, red 
lead, sugar of lead, manganese dioxide, etc.; this 
renders it a better drying oil, but care must be taken 
that boiled linseed oil is not used internally instead 
of pure linseed oil, as the boiled oil is poisonous. 
Linseed oil is often used as a laxative in cases of 
colic in horses, cows, etc., and cases are on record 



622 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

where the administration of boiled linseed oil has 
proved fatal to such animals. 

Oleum Olivse. 

N. Olive Oil, Sweet Oil. — o. A fixed oil obtained 
from the fruits of Olea Europcza; Oleacecs. There 
are several grades of this oil : Virgin Oil, obtained 
by cold pressure; a second grade oil, obtained by- 
mixing the press-cake with hot water and again ex- 
pressing; and an inferior oil obtained from the resi- 
due of this second pressing after it has undergone 
fermentation. This last grade of oil is mainly used 
in the manufacture of Castile soap. — h. Asia and 
Southern Europe. — »- Pale yellow or light-greenish- 
yellow oil ; peculiar odor and sweet, nutty taste. — 
C. Mainly olein, some palmatin, etc.; sp. gr. about 
0.915. — u. As a table or salad oil ; as a demulcent; 
externally in emollient and cosmetic preparations. 

Bland fixed oils resembling olive oil in appearance 
and sometimes used for adulterating olive oil, some- 
times used as substitutes, but comparatively seldom 
employed under their own proper names, are made 
from mustard seeds, walnuts, pecans, etc. The 
latter especially is a fine salad oil, and when it can 
be obtained is esteemed more highly than the best 

olive oil. 

Oleum Rieini. 

N. Castor Oil. — o. A fixed oil expressed from the 
seeds of Ricinus communis ; Euphorbiacece \ — h. Cul- 
tivated. — j>, A viscid, nearly colorless oil; odor 
mildly nauseous, taste bland, but afterwards acrid 
and nauseous. — c. A peculiar modification of olein 
called ricinolein, palmitin, an acrid principle, etc.; 
sp. gr. about 0.965. — u. Laxative, in large doses 
purgative. Dose : 5 to 25 cc. 

Oleum Sesami. 

N. Benne-Seed Oil. — o. A fixed oil obtained by ex- 
pression from the seeds of Sesamum Indicum and its 
variety 6". orientale; Sesamece. — h. India ; culti- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 623 

vated. — D. A yellowish fixed oil, limpid, transpar- 
ent, odorless, with a bland nut-like flavor. — c. Olein, 
palmitin, stearin, etc.; sp. gr. about 0.922. — ij. Like 
those of olive oil. 

Oleum Tiglii. 

N. Croton Oil. — o. A fixed oil expressed from the 
seeds of Croton Tiglium; Euphorbiacece \ — h. India 
and Philippine Islands. — D. A more or less viscid 
fixed oil, the viscidity increasing with age, varying 
in color from yellow to dark reddish-brown, the 
color deepening with age ; odor peculiar, taste dis- 
agreeable, acrid and irritating. — c. Glycerides of 
various fatty acids, such as tiglinic, palmitic, stearic, 
lauric; the purgative, vesicating and suppurant prop- 
erties depend upon a substance containing a fatty 
acid resembling ricinoleic acid; sp. gr. about 0.95. — 
U. Drastic cathartic. Dose: 0.05 to 0.1 gram, best 
given in an emulsion with some mild demulcent oil. 
Externally croton oil is counter-irritant, vesicant and 
suppurative. 

GROUP LXXXV. 

PECULIAR CONCRETE SUBSTANCES. 

A number of substances that do not conform to the 
characteristics described under the previous groups 
of non-cellular vegetable substances are placed in 
this group, although they do not resemble each other 
markedly and, in fact, have no general characteristics 
in common. The group is therefore based on con- 
siderations of convenience mainly. 
White, translucent, crystalline 
masses ; peculiar penetrating odor 

and bitterish pungent taste Campbora. 

In cakes, balls, hollow bottle- 
shaped or irregular pieces, black- 
ish-brown, very elastic caoutetioiic. 

Grayish or yellowish-gray masses, 
streaked interiorly; not markedly 
elastic Gutta Percba. 



624 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Light, friable, grayish-green flat- 
tish fragments; taste acrid bitter Eiateriiim. 
Camphora. 

x. Camphor. — o. Crude camphor is obtained by 
distillation from the chipped wood and branches of 
Cinnamomum {Laurus) Camphora; Laurinece. The 
crude camphor is purified by sublimation . — h. China, 
Japan and India. — d. White, translucent masses 
having a crystalline structure, tough and not readily 
pulverizable unless a little alcohol, ether or chloro- 
form is added ; odor peculiar, strong, penetrating and 
persistent, taste bitterish pungent. — e. Camphoric 
and camphoronic acids ; composition of camphor is 
C 10 H 16 0;it sublimes at ordinary temperatures and 
volatilizes completely when exposed to the air ; it 
burns with a brilliant, though smoky flame and 
leaves no ash; dissolves completely in alcohol, ether, 
volatile and fixed oils, etc.; sp. gr. about 0.99. — 
U. Stimulant of the brain and circulation; useful in 
low fevers and typhoid conditions; also useful in 
cholera, etc., alone or in combination with opium. 
Anaphrodisiac and sedative in priapism, chordee, 
etc. Used externally in bruises, rheumatism, etc." 
Dose : 0.05 to 0.3 grams ; as an anaphrodisiac or as a 
sedative in mania, up to 1 gram. 

Caoutchouc. 

K. Elastica, India-Rubber . — o. and H. Obtained 
by exudation from incisions in the stems of various 
trees, but especially "from the natural orders 
Euphorbiacece (Sipkonia, Hevea, Jatrophd)> Apocy- 
nacece {Urceola, Vahea, Landolphia), and Artocarp- 
acece (FicuSy Urostigma, Castilloa, etc.)" ; Maisch. 
In India Ficus elastica is the main source of this sub- 
stance; in Africa, Landolphia florida and other 
varieties of Landolphia; in South America, Hevea 
Guianensis and other varieties of Hevea. — ». India 
rubber occurs in flat cakes, in balls or moulded into 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 625 

various hollow bottle-shaped masses ; the latter are 
made by dipping moulds of clay into the india-rubber 
while still fluid and continuing this until the layer is 
sufficiently thick, then breaking the clay mould and 
pouring out the fragments of clay. Externally 
caoutchouc is blackish-brown, but internally on a cut 
surface, it is lighter-colored and sometimes grayish 
or whitish striated. It is very elastic, odorless and 
without taste. — c. Consists of a mixture of poly- 
terpenes; but the principal constituent is a solid 
hydrocarbon, C 2 o H 32 . Soluble in chloroform, etc. 
The best method of dissolving is said to be to change 
it to a jelly-like substance in carbon disulphide and 
then dissolve this jelly in benzin. With 10% of sul- 
phur caoutchouc vulcanizes and forms hard rubber. 
— U. Externally for dressings and plasters. In the 
arts for making soft and hard rubber goods. 
Gutta Percha. 

Bf. Gutta Percha. — o. Obtained from incisions in 
Palaquium oblongifolium and allied trees ; Sapotacecz. 
H.Malayan peninsula and islands. — d. In masses of 
a grayish or grayish-white color, often with brownish 
streaks, hard, heavier than water, not very elastic, 
but flexible ; impurities can be removed from it by 
kneading in hot water. Nearly odorless and taste- 
less. — c. About 80% gutta (C 20 H3 2)> resins, etc.; 
soluble in ether, benzol, chloroform, carbon bisul- 
phide and oil of turpentine ; sp. gr. about 0.98 ; it may 
be vulcanized like caoutchouc. — u. Like those of 
caoutchouc. 

A peculiar substance resembling gutta percha and 
called * 'chicle gum" is obtained from a Central 
American tree ; it is used in the manufacture of chew- 
ing gum. 

Elaterinm. 

x. Elaterium. — o. A peculiar substance deposited 
from the juice of the squirting cucumber, Ecballium 
Elaterium; Cucurbitacece. The juice is clear when it 



626 N0T3S ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

first comes from the fruit, but soon becomes turbid 
from the elaterium which separates from it and is 
deposited. The deposit is spread in thin layers on 
muslin and then rapidly dried between sheets of 
bibulous paper. — i>. In flat fragments of variable 
thickness, a few mm. thick, irregular size, easily 
broken, with a granular fracture, grayish or grayish- 
green, showing the impression of the muslin on one 
side ; a slight odor suggesting tea, and an acrid and 
very bitter taste. — c. About 25 to 35% of elaterin; 
this is the only valuable constituent. Elaterin is a 
resinoid substance, but, constituting only about J of 
the drug, the latter cannot fairly be classed with the 
resins, as is done by some authors. — u. A powerful 
hydragogue cathartic. Dose : 0.008 to 0.015 gram. 

Great care should be exercised in writing, reading 
and dispensing elaterium and elaterinum in order 
that the two may not be confounded on account of the 
similarity of their names. Elaterin consists of small, 
shining crystals, odorless, intensely bitter and acrid 
and from 3 to 4 times as active as elaterium. 

GROUP LXXXVI. 

COLOEING MATTERS. 

Substances prepared by oxidation or fermentation 
from various plants ; or by the deposition of sedi- 
ments from their juices extracted by water. 
More or less firm, brittle masses; 

blue to purplish indigo. 

Small, rectangular, blue or bluish 

cakes ; colors water blue Litmus 

A purplish-red powder, imparting 
a beautiful color to diluted alco- 
hol Persio. 

Thick, deep reddish-purple liquid 

with ammoniacal odor Orebii. 

Usually an orange-red paste; some- 
times dry and friable cakes Annatto. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 627 

Indigo. 

X. Indicum, Indigo. — o. The whole plants of sev- 
eral varieties of Indigofera {Leguminosce) and allied 
plants are packed in cemented reservoirs a few feet 
deep, and then covered with water. After ferment- 
ing for a few days the workmen express the juice 
from the plants by jumping in the reservoir and 
treading the mass, at the same time agitating the 
water to facilitate oxidation. The liquid becomes 
deep blue and at the proper time is drawn off and al- 
lowed to deposit the coloring matter. — h. India. — 
D. More or less firm, brittle masses, of a blue to pur- 
plish-blue color, showing a bronze or coppery metallic 
appearance when pressed by a smooth hard body, as 
by the nail of the finger; odorless and tasteless. — 
C. Should contain from 70 to 80% of indigo-blue or 
indigotin. — u. Used only as a coloring agent or dye, 
and in solution as a test-solution. 
Litmus. 

N. Litmus, L,acmus. — o. Made by a process of 
fermentation from lichens, including Roccella tine- 
toria and other varieties of Roccella, several species 
of Lecanora y Variolaria, etc. The juices of the 
plants themselves are colorless, but become colored 
during the processes employed, which are under 
control so that several different and distinct coloring 
matters can be produced. — h. Mainly made in 
Holland. The coarsely powdered lichens are mace- 
rated in a mixture of urine, lime and potash or 
soda; the liquid becomes first red, finally blue; the 
liquid is then separated, mixed with calcareous or 
silicious matter and some indigo, moulded into small 
cakes and dried. — d. It occurs in rectangular, blue 
or bluish cakes, 2.5 cm. or less in size, light, friable, 
granular, and dotted with white saline dots; odor 
violet-like, taste somewhat saline and pungent. — c. A 
coloring matter, orcein, which is soluble in water and 
still more readily in alcohol; as it always contains 



628 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

chalk it effervesces with acids. — u. Test for acids and 
alkalies. In the arts as a dye. 

Persio, Cudbear, is made in a similar manner, from 
the same lichens, by macerating in an ammoniacal 
liquid (urine and lime), but probably more potash or 
soda is added than when making litmus or orchil. 
Cudbear is in the form of a purplish-red powder. 
Used to color elixirs, etc., and in the arts as a dye. 

Orchil or Archil is make in a similar manner, from 
the same lichens, but probably by adding but little 
potash or soda to the urine and lime. It is a thick, 
deep reddish-purple liquid, but varies in tint, some 
lots being more some less reddish. Used as a dye. 

Annatto. 

5f. Orleana, Annatta, Arnotta. — o. A reddish pulp 
surrounding the seeds of Bixa Orellana; Bixineae. 
The pulp is separated by bruising the fruit, mixing 
with water, straining, allowing the sediment to 
deposit and then forming into cakes, which are 
dried. — h. Guiana and other parts of South America. 
— D. Usually the cakes are quite soft, forming, in fact, 
a stiff, pasty mass; occassionally they are dry so that 
they may be broken, brownish-red, with a peculiar 
sweetish odor and a saline bitterish taste. — c. A 
peculiar coloring principle, bixin; another called 
orellin; etc. — u. As a dye and coloring agent. Often 
used as a color for butter. 



--^- 



#N+ 



NOTES ON PHAMACOGNOSY. 629 



SYNOPSIS OF THE GROUPS OF DRUGS. 



This synopsis is to be used in connection with the 
chart, "System of Pharmacognosy", for the deter- 
mination of drugs in the ordinary business emergen- 
cies, when a specimen of drug of which the customer 
does not know the name may be brought in with a de- 
mand for a drug of the same kind. After a little 
practice, and especially after the Notes on Phar- 
macognosy have been studied, this system will as- 
sist in determining the identity of such a drug. Our 
failure to recognize a drug is often not because we do 
not know the drug, but because we cannot recall its 
name, and, therefore, cannot go to the drawer or con- 
tainer in which it is kept, and in such a case this 
synopsis will be of immediate and prompt assistance. 

Suppose a customer brings in a piece of pomegran- 
ate rind; we see at once that it is a vegetable sub- 
stance, and this excludes all animal drugs, or the 
first eight groups of drugs. We see at a glance that 
it is not a whole plant (excludes the ninth group), 
that it is not a cryptogam (excludes groups 10-15), 
nor any underground form of structure, such as root, 
rhizome, corm or bulb (excludes groups 16-33), nor is 
it any part of the stem, such as twigs, pith, wood or 
bark (excluding groups 34-45), nor is it a leaf-bud, 
leaf or flower (thus excluding groups 46-57); we now 
have come to fruits, and the specimen is evidently 
not a whole fruit (excluding groups 58-64) but a part 
of fruit, and, therefore, belongs in group 65. Turning 
now to group 65 in this Synopsis, we find an enu- 
meration of the drugs which are parts of fruits, and 
merely reading the names will probably recall the 
correct name for the drug, but if not, the compendi- 
ous descriptions will enable us to determine its 



630 NOTES ON PHAMACOGNOSY. 

name. We know it is not lemon or orange peel, and 
probably even the novice in the drug business knows 
that it is neither tamarinds nor white pepper, so that 
we need look up only bael fruit, mangosteen and 
pomegranate rind, and the description will tell us 
that it is the latter; but, to make sure, we turn to the 
page indicated and read the description of the drug, 
and compare with the drawing, and thus establish 
the identity. 

And so for any drug, once we determine what it is; 
that is, whether it is a whole animal or plant, or a 
part of an animal or plant, or non-cellular animal or 
plant substance, or a starch, etc.; and, while this 
Synopsis and these Notes do not contain all the 
drugs, it is believed that they contain practically all 
that are apt to be met with in actual business experi- 
ence. 

While this use of the author's System of Phar- 
macognosy is best made in connection with the 
Chart, which should hang in a place that is conven- 
ient for ready reference, yet pages 16-20 of this book 
will enable the druggist to get at the same results, but 
with a little more labor and time. 



The numbers following the names constitute a page 

index. 

GROUP I. 

WORMS. 

A live aquatic worm Hirudo, 25. 

GROUP II. 

INSECTS. 

Without wings; angular granules . . Coccus, 25. 

With wings greenish or coppery 

metallic luster Cantharis, 26. 

Wings black with transverse yel- 
low bands Mylaforis, 26. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 631 

Wings black with longitudinal yel- 
low bands Cantli. vittata, 26. 

Entire insect, brownish-black Blai£a,27. 

GROUP II I. 

EGGS. 
The egg of the chicken Ovum, 27. 

GROUP IV. 

PARTS OF ANIMALS WHOUY OR PARTLY SOLUBLE IN 

ALCOHOL OR WATER. 

Rolls or flat pieces of tough fibrous 

tissue lebtbyocolla, 28. 

Long, thin, membranous ribbons. American 

Isinglass, 29. 

Round sacs, hairy on one side, 

smooth on the other 31 oschus, 29. 

Long grayish-brown sacs Castoreuin, 30. 

GROUP V. 

PARTS OF ANIMALS NOT SOLUBLE IN ALCOHOL OR 
WATER. 

Anastomosing fibers Spongia, 32. 

Flattish, oval, white "bones" Os Sepiae, 33. 

GROUP VI 

SOLID NON-CELLULAR ANIMAL SUBSTANCES. 

Round, white, calcareous stones. . .jLapilii 

Cancrornm, 34. 

Yellow, waxy cakes, or lumps. . . . Cera Flava, 35. 

Thin, round or square cakes, waxy, 

white Cera Alba. 36. 

White, semi-transparent, unctuous 
masses of a crystalline, foliaceous 
texture Cetaceuiu, 37. 

Hard, white, somewhat glossy 

masses Aciclum 

St earicum, 37. 

White, solid, fatty masses Seviiin, 37. 



632 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Black, gritty powder C artoo 

Animalis, 37. 

Brown, unctuous, very odorous 

powder Moschus, 38. 

Cylindrical, hard, crystalline 

masses Saceharum 

L> act is, 38, 

Flat, hard, brown, transparent or 
translucent pieces Colla, 39. 

Irregular, flat, semi-opaque, yel- 
lowish-white pieces Colla Alba, 39. 

Colorless, transparent, rectangular, 

flexible sheets Gelatina, 39. 

Opaque, rectangular sheets of 

frothy texture Gelatin, 40. 

Clear, colorless flexible shreds Shred Gelatin, 40, 

Grayish-brownish or blackish odor- 
ous masses Ambergris, 40. 

Small, hard, tenacious, odorous 

masses Hyraceam, 40. 

GROUP VI I. 

SEMI-SOUD AMORPHOUS ANIMAL SUBSTANCES. 

Soft, white, unctuous fatty sub- 
stance Adeps, 40. 

Soft, yellowish- white fatty sub- 
stance Adeps tana?, 41. 

Semi-solid, unctuous, yellowish or 
brownish substance Civet, 41. 

GROUP VIM. 

LIQUID AMORPHOUS ANIMAL SUBSTANCES. 

Syrupy, sweet, aromatic, some- 
times granular liquid Mel, 42. 

Viscid, gr eeni sh -brown bitter 

liquid Fel Bovis, 43. 

Yellowish to brownish fixed oil 

with fishy odor Oleum 

Morrnuse, 43 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 633 

Pale yellowish or colorless fixed 

oil Oleum Aclipis. 43. 

Pale yellow to yellowish-brown oil . oleum 

Bubulum. 44 . 

GROUP IX. 

HERBS— WHOLE PLANTS BOTANICALLY RECOGNIZABLE. 
Composite?: 

Yellowish florets; leaves petiolate, 

pinnatifid Absinthium, 92. 

White florets; leaves thrice pinnat- 
ifid • Achillea, 93. 

White florets; leaves connate-per- 

foliate Eupatorium. 

Yellow ray florets; leaves sessile, 

spatulate to lanceolate Grinclelia, 94. 

Yellow florets; leaves linear-lan- 
ceolate Soliclago, 96. 

Yellow tubular florets; leaves alter- 
nate, pinnatifid Tanacetnm, 96. 

Geniianecz: 

Two nectaries on each petal Chirata, 97. 

Labiates: 

Upper lip arched; stamens 4 Cataria, 99. 

Corolla small, 2-lipped; stamens 2 Hedeoma, 100. 

Flowers in axillary whorls; sta- 
mens 2 I^ycopus. 100. 

Flowers in corymbose clusters; 

stamens 4 Majorana, 101. 

Flowers in dense, woolly, axillary 

whorls; stamens 4 Marrnbinm, 102. 

Flowers in small cymes; stamens 4. Melissa, 102. 

Flowers in obtuse spikes; stamens 

4, short Mentha ppt., 103. 

Flowers in slender spikes; sta- 
mens 2 Menth. virid., 103. 

Corolla long, with narrow lip; sta- 
mps 2 Jlonarda, 104. 



634 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Flowers in axillary 1-sided racemes; 

stamens 4 Scutellaria, 104. 

Leguminosce: 
leaves usually absent; stamens 

monadelphous Scoparius, 105. 

Lobeliacece: 
Leaves alternate; stamens united 

into a tube Lobelia, 106. 

Papaveracece: 
Flowers in long-peduncled umbels; 

capsule linear c helioonium, 107. 

Ranunculacece: 
Rhizomes filiform, golden-yellow. . Coptis, 109. 
Cluster of leaves forming an invo- 
lucre some distance below the 

flower Pulsatilla, no. 

Solanacece: 
Gray-brown hairy leaves, irregu- 
larly lobed; flowers, or capsules 

within persistent calyx, often 

present Hyoscyamus, 111. 

Urticacece: 
Flowers consisting of single sepal 

inclosing pistil or capsule Cannabis, 113. 

GROUP X. 

AI,G^. 

Thallus filiform, much branched, 

horny, translucent Ctaondrus, 116. 

Thallus with large air-vesicles Fueus, in. 

Thallus round or oval, tough and 

horny, long, stem-like Laminaria, 118. 

Mixture of several small s ea- weeds. Corsican Moss, 119 

GROUP XI. 

LICHENS. 

Irregularly lobed lichens, brown- 
ish-gray above and grayish-white 
below Cetraria, 120. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 635 

Flat lichen, brownish, with oval 
prominences on one side and 
corresponding depressions on the 
other side Sticta, 121. 

GROUP XII. 

FUNGI. 

Fusiform, purplish-black grains. . . Ersrota. 122. 

Irregular, brown-black masses, 
partly membranous, partly pul- 
verulent rstilaso. 124. 

White, tough, light masses Ag-aricns. 125. 

Thin, brown, pliable, velvety 

sheets Spnnk. 125. 

Semi-fluid, viscid, frothy sub- 
stance Yeast. 126. 

White or yellowish grains Kefir-seed. 126. 

Round dark-brown masses, pul- 
verulent within Puff-balls. 126. 

GROUP XIII. 

LYCOPODIACE-E. 

Light-yellow, very mobile powder ryeopoclium. 127. 
GROUP XIV. 

EOUTSETACE.E. 

Jointed, hollow, slender stems, 

about 60 cm. long; or broken. . . . Eqnisetnm. 12S. 

GROUP XV. 

FERNS. 

Large rhizome beset with the bases 

of stipes Aspidinm. 129. 

Frond of fern with triangular leaf- 
lets and thin, glossy brown 
stipes Adiantnin. 131. 

Hard, dark-brown rhizome, beset 

with short remnants of stipes. . . . Polypodinm. 132. 



636 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Fine, silky, glossy, bronze-colored 

hairs Penghawar, 132. 

GROUP XVI. 

ENDOGENOUS ROOTS. 

Very long, about 4 to 5 mm. thick; 

brownish Sarsaparilla, 162. 

Thin and slender, about 15 to 20 

cm. long, and about 1 mm. thick . vetiveria, 169. 

GROUP XVII. 

WOODY EXOGENOUS ROOTS WITH THIN BARK. 

Brown or purplish-brown; wood 

tough Krameria, 170. 

Blackish-brown and warty; wood 

in irregular circles or rings Pareira, 171. 

Wood firm and yellow; taste very 

sweet Glycyrrhiza, 173. 

Yellowish-brown; tough yellowish 

wood Gelsemium, 174. 

Ivarge, grayish-brown; often with 

rootlets braided; or chopped in 

pieces Mettaysticum, 176. 

Thin pale-brown bark, often scal- 
ing off and showing white wood. Hydrangea, 177. 

GROUP XVIII. 

WOODY EXOGENOUS ROOTS WITH THICK BARK; 
WITH DUCTS. 

Long roots, gray bark about one- 

fourth of diameter of the dry 

root Apocymim 

Caiinabimmi, 178. 

Similar to above, but thinner, 

brown, and bark about one-sixth 

of entire thickness Apocymim Amlro- 

samiifolium, 180. 
Short brownish-gray sections, wood 

spongy and bark easily separ- 
able and flaring at cut ends Stillingia, 182. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. ' 637 

GROUP XIX. 

WOODY EXOGENOUS ROOTS WITH THICK BARK; 
NO DUCTS. 

Purplish-brown, wood tough, bark 

thick Krameria, 182. 

Small roots, blackish-brown, with 

thick annulated bark Ipecacuanha, 183. 

GROUP XX. 

FLESHY ROOTS WITH DUCTS. 

Hard, tuberous, irregularly round 

or pear-shaped, dark-brown Jalapa, 186. 

With caudex, branched, section 

marked with concentric lines Taraxacum, 188. 

With caudex, branched, section 

marked with radiating lines Ctctaoriam, 189. 

Hard, yellowish-brown, or gray, 

bark closely tuberculated Asclepias, 189. 

Tough, porous sections, with ir- 
regular bundles Smnbnl. 190. 

Light grayish-brown, branched 

root, deeply wrinkled Angelica, 191. 

Fusiform, yellowish, annulate, 

often bifid Panax, 192. 

Fusiform, dark grayish-brown, 

annulate above, deeply wrinkled .pyretnrMin, 193. 

Thick, round root with long 
branches, or sometimes in trans- 
verse or longitudinal sections. . .inula, 194. 

Long, spongy or flexible, light-col- 
ored, usually split lengthwise. . . i^evisticum. 196. 

Dark-brown, knotty, flattened, with 

root-scars and transverse rings . . Iniperatoria, 196. 

Long, slender, yellowish-white, 
flexible, usually split lengthwise. Petroselinum, 198. 

Long, yellowish-brown, annulate 
above, wrinkled and warty be- 
low Pimpinella, 198. 



638 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

GROU P XXB. 

EX3SHY ROOTS WITHOUT DUCTS. 

Conical, blackish-brown, tuberous 

roots, single or joined in pairs. . Aconitiim, 200. 

Slender, light grayish-brown roots, 

little branched Belladonna* 

Radix, 203. 
Large, round or plano-convex, 

orange-yellow pieces of roots, 

peeled Rheum, 205. 

Several- headed caudex, root 
branched and keeled, yellowish- 
gray, wood not cylindrical Senega, 206. 

Whole, or longitudinally split, 
dark-brown roots, transversely 
annulate above Gentiana, 2)7. 

Transverse sections, greenish-gray 

bark, yellowish on cut surface. . . €alninba, 208. 

Grayish-white transverse sections, 
hard, with prominent radiating 
and concentric lines Bryonia, 209. 

White roots, with cork removed, 

white, mealy and fibrous Althrea, 210. 

Longitudinal and transverse sec- 
tions, with projecting white wood- 
bundles alternating with yellow- 
ish gray parenchyma Phytolacca? 

Radix, 210. 

Long, simple, fusiform root, usually 
partially broken and doubled up 
lengthwise Rnmex, 212. 

Brown-black, horny, somewhat con- 
torted roots, often split length- 
wise Symphytum, 213. 

Long, thin roots, externally rust- 
brown, internally whitish $aponaria,2i3. 

Cylindrical, simple, fleshy root, 
grayish-brown and wrinkled .... i^appa, 215. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 639 

Crowned with leaf-bases and cov- 
ered with a dark purplish foliace- 
ous bark easily separable from 
the yellowish wood Alkanna. 215. 

Longitudinal or transverse slices, 

pale orange-brown Frasera, 216. 

GROUP XXII. 

ENDOGENOUS RHIZOMES WITH ROOTLETS. 
Iyong, grayish or brownish, deeply 

wrinkled roots, often over 1 

meter long, folded back over a 

compact rhizome Sarsaparilla. 2.9. 

Obconical, blackish-gray, with 

shriveled lighter-colored rootle ts.veratrnm 

Viride, 220. 

Thin, branched, straw-colored or 

pale yellowish, with hair-like 

rootlets at nodes Coiivallaria, 221. 

Jointed, deeply-wrinkled, flattish, 

grayish-brown, annulated with 

darker-colored markings iris Versi- 
color, 222 

Obconical to sub-globular, annu- 
late, orange-brown Trillinm, 223. 

Obconical, grayish-brown, with 
rootlets on upper part; whitish 
within Dracontiiim. 223. 

Bent, orange-brown, with many 
stem-scars above and wavy root- 
lets below Cypripeclimii, 224. 

Whole, or longitudinal slices, yel- 
lowish-brown, whitish within; 
annulate Polygoiiatum. 225. 

Much branched and curved; pale- 
brown, very hard and tough. . . . Bioseorea, 227. 

Sub-cylindrical, curved, grayish- 
brown, with tough, wiry rootlets.Helonias, 227. 



640 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Cylindrical, covered with tufts of 
leaf-bases and numerous pale- 
colored and soft rootlets . . Aletris, 228. 

Flattish -cylindrical, reddish- 
brown, with root-scars in wavy 
lines on under side calamus, 246. 

GROUP XXI II. 

EXOGENOUS RHIZOMES WITH ROOTLETS ; WITH DUCTS. 

Small, hard, dark-brown, curved 
rhizome; rootlets all on lower 
side; a ring of ducts in the sec- 
tion Arnica, 229. 

Short, thick, upright rhizome, with 
many rootlets; with character- 
istic odor Valeriana, 230. 

Thin, small rhizome, with remains 
of stems on upper side, and many 
rootlets on lower side Serpentaria, 232. 

GROUP XXIV. 

EXOGENOUS RHIZOMES WITH ROOTLETS; NO DUCTS. 

Short, thick, upright rhizome with 
many rootlets; with character- 
istic odor Valeriana, 230. 

Thin, small rhizome with remains 
of stems on upper side, and many 
rootlets on lower side Serpentaria, 232. 

Small, thin, knotty rhizomes, with 
many brittle rootlets, bright yel- 
low within Hydrastis, 235. 

Irregular, knotty, brownish-black 
rhizomes, with many rootlets 
which have from 3 to 6 radiating 
bundles Cimicif nga, 235. 

Small, knotty rhizome, with sev- 
eral stem-scars and numerous 
long rootlets; grayish-brown Spigelia, 237. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 641 

Hard, irregular, bent and knotty 
rhizome, with broad stem-scars 
and numerous rootlets; yellow- 
ish-brown Caulophylluni. 238. 

Rhizome a meter or more long, 
with small rootlets; brown or 
yellowish-brown Menisperniiim, 239. 

Knotty, many-headed caudex with 
many rootlets; grayish or yellow- 
ish-brown externally and with 

white wood Asclepias 

Incarnata, 240. 

Blackish-brown, branched and flat- 
tened rhizome, with many and 
long nearly black rootlets Leptandra, 241. 

Thin, long, more or less contorted 
rhizomes; purplish-brown exter- 
nally and whitish within Asarnm, 242. 

Much contorted, tough, knotty 
rhizomes, with several stems and 
more or less contorted roots ; 
light-brown externally and white 
within Gillenia, 242. 

Knotty, scaly and wrinkled rhi- 
zome, with rootlets on under side; 
brownish externally and whitish 
within Getim, 243. 

Very hard, knotty and irregularly 
branched rhizomes, with thin and 
brittle rootlets; grayish-brown. . . Coilinsonia, 244. 

GROUP XXV. 

CRYPTOGAMOUS RHIZOMES WITHOUT ROOTLETS. 

Large rhizome, beset with the bases 

of stipes Aspidium, 129. 

Hard, dark-brown rhizome, beset 

with short remnants of stipes Poly podium, 132. 



642 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

GROUP XXVI. 

ENDOGENOUS RHIZOMES WITHOUT ROOTLETS; 
ELONGATE. 

Jointed, deeply-wrinkled, flattish, 
grayish-brown, annulate with 
darker-colored markings iris Versicolor, 222. 

Flattish -cylindrical, reddish- 
brown, with root-scars in wavy 
lines on the under side Calamus, 246. 

Very long, thin, straw-colored, hol- 
low; usually cut into pieces about 
1 cm. long Triticum, 248. 

GROUP XXVI I . 

ENDOGENOUS RHIZOMES WITHOUT ROOTLETS; SHORT. 

Flattish, lobed, peeled or unpeeled, 
brownish, gray or white rhizomes.zingiber, 250. 

Cylindrical, branched, reddish- 
brown rhizomes, annulate with 
lighter-colored wavy leaf-sheaths. Galanga, 252. 

Cylindrical or oval yellowish-gray 
rhizomes, deep orange-yellow 
within Curcuma, 253. 

Flat, somewhat ham-shaped, gray- 
ish or white rhizomes, often with 
similarly shaped smaller lobes 
attached Iris Florentina, 254 

Very hard, irregular, massive tuber- 
ous rhizomes, reddish-brown, 
with funnel-shaped stem-scars. . . Chinae Rhizoma, 

256. 

Sub-cylindrical, curved, grayish- 
brown rhizome without rootlets . Helonias, 227. 

I4ght-reddish or brownish-gray cir- 
cular disks, or in longitudinal 
halves or quarters Zedoaria, 257. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 643 

GROUP XXVI I I. 

EXOGENOUS RHIZOMES WITHOUT ROOTLETS; 
ELONGATE. 

Rhizome with thickened nodes, 
with stem-scars above and root- 
scars below, glossy brown Podophyllum, 258. 

Cylindrical, annulate, light, pithy, 

grayish-brown, bark exfoliating . Aralia 

> udieaulis. 259. 

GROUP XXIX. 

EXOGENOUS RHIZOMES WITHOUT ROOTLETS; SHORT. 

Flattened, bent upon itself, or 

broken, dark-brown, hard Bistorta, 260. 

Dark reddish-brown rhizome, some- 
what flattened, much wrinkled 
and twisted Sangumaria. 261. 

Hard, compact, contorted and 
tuberculated, umber-brown Geranium, 262. 

Simple, cylindrical or flattened, 
externally rough and grayish- 
brown Tormentllla, 263. 

Dark-brown, knotty, flattened, with 
root-scars and transverse rings . . Imperatoria, 196. 

GROUP XXX. 

WHOLE TUBERS AND CORMS. 

Hard, tuberous, irregularly round 

or pear-shaped, dark-brown Jalapa, 186. 

Conical, blackish-brown, tuberous 
roots, single or joined in pairs.. . Aconitum, 200. 

Ovoid, brownish, wrinkled corms, 
with a groove on one side Colchicum, 267. 

Single, round, small, hard, semi- 
translucent or opaque, yellow or 
brown tubers; sometimes two con- 
cavo-convex tubers joined, with 
a third smaller tuber between 
them Corydalis, 266. 



644 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Oval, slightly flattened or shrunken, 
semi- translucent and very hard. Salop, 266. 

GROUP XXXI. 

SLICED TUBERS. 

Kidney-shaped grayish-white 

Slices Colchicum, 267. 

Transverse slices with dark-gray 
epidermis and mealy-white sur- 
faces Arum, 269. 

GROUP XXXI I. 

WHOLE BULBS. 

Large, juicy, greenish or pinkish- 
white bulbs, the external scales, 
when present, pinkish-brown Soil la, 272. 

White bulbs, with stem, coated 
with a few dry, membranous, 
white scales enclosing about 
eight bulblets Allium, 271. 

GROUP XXXIII. 

SLICED BULBS. 

Narrow slices, up to 5 cm. long, 
often contorted; whitish with 
yellowish or pinkish tint; slightly 
diaphanous Scilia, 272. 

GROUP XXXIV. 

LEAFY TWIGS. 

Twigs with obovate or oval, cori- 
aceous, slightly serrate leaves . . . Gaultheria, 274. 

Twigs mixed with coriaceous, ob- 
lanceolate or cuneate-lanceolate 
leaves, with margin serrate at 
apex and entire near the base. . (nimaphlla, 276. 

Twigs and leaves agglutinated into 
broken masses with exuded gum- 
resin; leaves lanceolate, dentate. . Eriodyction, 277. 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 645 

Brownish-green twigs with oval, 

thick coriaceous, and deeply 

wrinkled leaves; leaves usually 

detached from twigs Pnoradendron,279. 

Twigs with scythe-shaped long, 

light-grayish-green leaves Eucalyptus, 378. 

GROUP XXXV. 

SCAI,Y TWIGS. 

Scales with a longitudinal ridge 

and projecting gland Thuja, 280. 

Scales with a longitudinal groove. Sabina. 281. 

GROUP XXXVI. 

NAKED OR I/EAFLESS TWIGS. 

Short, pale, grayish-green pieces of 

twigs, with smooth-cut ends; 

usually hollow Dulcamara, 283. 

Pale-green, five or six-angled stems, 

with clusters of spines on the 

edges Cercus, 284. 

GROUP XXXVI I. 

PITHS. 

Slender, cylindrical, sometimes 

curved pieces, spongy white Sassafras 

Medulla. 285. 
Similar to above, but thicker and 

yellowish in color Sambuci 

Medulla, 286. 

GROUP XXXVIII. 

WHITE WOODS. 

Coarse, light, white shavings or 

raspings Quassia, 289. 

GROUP XXXIX. 

COLORED WOODS. 

Greenish-brown raspings, mixed 

with some white particles Ouaiaci Lignum, 

292. 



646 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Yellowish or reddish-gray raspings. Jnniperi Lignum, 

293. 

Deep purplish-red or brownish-red 

shavings, or coarse powder Santaium 

Rub rum, 294. 

Red or reddish-brown raspings, the 

cut surfaces having resinous ap- 
pearance Fernambuco, 294. 

Purplish-black orbrownis h-r e d 
shavings or raspings, often with 
a greenish-metallic luster Hacmatoxylon,295. 

Brown or yellowish-brown chips or 

raspings Lignum 

Citrinum, 296. 

GROUP XL. 

CINCHONA BARKS; BARK WITH ISOLATED 
BAST-CEIXS. 

Quills or troughs with brownish- 
gray cork; brownish-yellow in- 
ternally Cinchona Flava, 

319. 

Thick, flat pieces, usually without 
cork, splintery, fibrous, orange- 
yellow Cinchona Flava, 

319. 

Two kinds, flat and quilled; similar 
to above kinds, except that color 

is deep reddish-brown Cinchona Rubra, 

321. 

Quills, smaller than other varieties, 
grayish-brown externally and in- 
ternally Cinchona Pallida, 

322. 

GROUP XLI. 

BARKS WITH BAST RADIAI,I,Y STRIATE. 

Troughs or simple quills, without 
cork, both surfaces cinnamon- 
brown; pungently aromatic Cinnamom. Cass., 

326. 

Thin, papery, compound quills, 
without cork, externally and in- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 647 

ternally pale cinnamon-colored; 

pungently aromatic Cimiamom, Zeyl. 

327. 
I^arge troughs or quills, externally 

with grayish-brown cork, inter- 
nally cinnamon-brown; pungently 

aromatic Cinnamom. 

Saigon., 328. 

Quills or irregular pieces, dull 
brownish, with peculiar trans- 
verse cracks and with white 
lichens with black spots on outer 
surface; taste bitter aromatic. . . . c as car ilia, 329. 

Irregularly curved pieces, cork re- 
moved, both surfaces reddish- 
brown with a shade of carmine; 
longitudinally striate, fracture 
short and pale-pink or whitish; 
bitter astringent. Comas, 330. 

Quills or broken pieces, externally 
whitish or pale-reddish with 
white scars, internally whitish; 
odor cinnamon-like and taste 
pungently bitterish Canella, 331. 

Irregular pieces, outer surface 
often marbled, fragile, soft, rust- 
brown, with characteristic taste 
and odor Sassafras, 332. 

Quills or flat pieces, externally 
purplish-brown, showing small 
transverse scars, or rough; in- 
ternally longitudinally fissured; 
developing bitter almond taste 
on chewing Primus Virg., 333. 

I^ong, coarsely fibrous, pale yel- 
lowish-brown pieces, often par- , 
tially broken and folded upon 
themselves; bitter Simaruba, 336. 



648 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Quills or troughs, externally dark 

brownish-gray with corky warts, 

internally orange-brown with 

narrow, short, longitudinal 

ridges; bitter astringent Alnus Rubra, 335. 

Shallow troughs and irregular 

fragments, cork removed, toughly 

fibrous internally; both surfaces 

yellowish-brown Magnolia, 336. 

Troughs or quills, purplish-brown 

externally, internally yellowish- 
white, fibrous in inner layer; 

bitter astringent Llrlodendron, 337. 

Thin, tough, flexible bands, flattish 

or quilled, outer surface blackish, 

inner pale-brown; mixed with 

Small roots Rnbus, 339. 

Thin fragments, outer surface 

brownish, inner surface yellow; 

bitter; stains saliva yellow Berberls, 339. 

Irregular pieces, outer surface pale 

yellowish-brown with lighter 

spots, inner surface smooth and 

brownish-yellow; fracture abrupt, 

almost waxy Ptelea, 340. 

Quills or troughs, brownish-gray 

with whitish patches, marked 

with minute black dots and 

scattered small spines; striation 

obscure Xantliox.ylum, N., 

368. 

GROUP XLII. 

BARKS WITH BAST TANGE)NTIAI,I,Y STRIATED. 

Nearly flat massive bark, with 
thick corky layer deeply fissured; 
gray or grayish-brown on outer 
and reddish on inner surfaces. . .Aspldosperma,343. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 649 

Thin flexible bands or quilled 

pieces; brownish on outer and 

whitish on inner surfaces ; 

separable into thin layers Gossvpii Bad. 

Cort., 346. 
Long, thin, flexible bands, rolled 

into bundles, yellowish on outer 
and silky-white on inner sur- 
faces Mezereum. 347. 

Quilled pieces or troughs; ash-gray 
outer and whitish or pale tawny 
inner surfaces Enonymns, 348. 

Flattish pieces or troughs; ash-gray 
outer and pale-brown or whitish 

inner surfaces Viburnum Opnlns, 

349. 

Thin quills or troughs, gray-brown 

outer and pale-brown and striated 

inner surfaces Cnndiirango, 350. 

Small contorted quills or troughs, 

usually irregularly broken; 

occasionally whole pieces of 

root; their brownish corky layer 

usually partially detached and 

adherent in shreds Rhois Glabra* 

Cort., 351. 
Large troughs or flat pieces, smooth, 

dark-brown and mottled o n 

outer surface; bork generally 

absent Jnglaus; stem), 353. 

Coarse quills, troughs or irregular 

pieces, toughly fibrous; outer 

surface gray or blackish-brown 

with many transverse ridges, 

inner surface smooth or fibrous . . Piscidia, 354. 
Thick quills or troughs with 

coarsely fissured grayish-brown 

corky layer, or without bork; 

yellowish-brown and striated 



650 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

inner surface Alstonia Constr., 

855. 

GROUP XLIII. 

BARKS WITH QUADRATICAI,I,Y STRIATED BAST. 

Thin, tough quills, glossy greenish 
or yellowish-brown outer surface; 
bitter astringent Salix, 357. 

Flat, pale brownish- white pieces 
with corky layer removed; mu- 
cilaginous taste Hums, 358. 

Large, flat pieces or troughs, red- 
dish-brown externally; fibrous 
fracture; acrid taste Quillaja, 358. 

Brittle pieces or small quills, exter- 
nally yellowish-gray, inner sur- 
face somewhat darker; often with 
conchoidal depressions exter- 
nally Oranatnm, 370. 

Quills or troughs, cork warty, ash- 
gray, or wanting; fracture splint- 
ery, coarsely fibrous Fraxinus, 359. 

Large troughs or flat pieces, 
smooth, dark-brown and mottled 
on outer surface; bork generally 
absent jugians, 353. 

GROUP XLIV. 

BARKS WITH NO STRIATION IN BAST. 

Heavy, long, flattish pieces or 

troughs, the bark up . to 15 mm. 

thick, reddish-brown Cot©, 361, 

Similar to above, rust-brown, outer 

surface fissured and shrunken . . . Paracoto, 362. 
Narrow, brittle fragments, shaved 

from twigs, about 1 mm. thick, 

whitish wood adhering to inner 

surface Prinos, 363. 

Irregular pieces or troughs, outer 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 651 

surface grayish-brown with trans- 
verse warts, or reddish-brown 
patches where grayish - brown 

cork is detached Hamamelidis 

Cortex, 364. 
Troughs or quills, up to 30 cm. 

long, younger bark mottled, 

older with rough cork Cascara, 365. 

Thin bark in rolled quills, exter- 
nally grayish-brown to blackish- 
brown with small transverse 
whitish cork-warts; inner surface 
brownish yellow Frangula, 366. 

Thin quills or troughs, glossy 
purplish-brown with scattered 

warts and blackish dots Viburnum prnn., 

367. 

Quills or troughs, brownish-gray 
with whitish patches, marked 
with minute black dots and 
scattered small spines; obscure 
radial striation Xanthoxyl. N., 368. 

Quills or flattish pieces, brownish- 
gray with many large conical pro- 
jections Xanthoxyl. S., 368. 

Irregular pieces or troughs, exter- 
nally brown and rough from 
warts; inner surface pale brown- 
ish-yellow Chioiiaiilnus, 369. 

Brittle pieces or small quills, ex- 
ternally yellowish-gray, inner 
surface somewhat darker; often 
with conchoidal depressions ex- 
ternally Granaium, 370. 

Irregular pieces, outer surface 
marbled or grained, fragile, soft, 
rust-brown; characteristic odor 
and taste Sassafras, 332. 

Irregular pieces, outer surface pale 



652 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

yellowish-brown with lighter 
spots, inner surface smooth and 
brownish-yellow; fracture abrupt, 
almost waxy Ptclca, 340. 

GROUP XLV. 

RASPED BARKS. 

An irregular coarse, grayish-brown 
powder mixed with many tough 
coarse fibers Quercus Alba, 371. 

GROUP XLVI. 

I<EAE BUDS. 

I^ong, tapering, scaly leaf buds, 
brown and covered externally 

with sticky resinous exudation . . Populi Gemmae, 

373. 

GROUP XLVII. 

SIMPLE CORIACEOUS LEAVES. 

Scythe-shaped, 15 to 30 cm. long, 
margin entire; grayish-green Eucalyptus, 378. 

Roundish-obovate, about 15 mm. 
long, margin crenate or serrate; 
yellowish-green; pellucid-punc- 
tate, with a gland at each serra- 
tion Bucnu (snort), 379. 

Slender linear-lanceolate leaves, 
about 3 to 4 cm. long, margin 
serrate; otherwise like the pre- 
ceding Bucnu (long), 380. 

Obovate or oblong-spatulate, 15 to 
20 mm. long, margin entire; 
lower surface reticulate; brown- 
ish-green Uva Frsi, 381. 

Variable in size and shape, ovate, 
obovate- oblong to lanceolate, 2 to 
7 cm. long, margin entire; green 
to brownish; with a curved line 
on each side of the midrib. . . . . Coca, 381. 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 653 

Obovate to oblong, 10 to 25 mm. 
long, margin with 2 to 6 denta- 
tions on each side; light-green. ..Damiana,3S2. 

Ovate-oblong, to 5 cm. long, with 
long petiole, margin finely crenu- 
late; whitish to grayish-green, 
downy Salvia. 383. 

Rolled into small balls or cylinders, 
grayish-green, bluish-green t o 
blackish Tnea, 383. 

Oblong or oblong-lanceolate, acute 
at both ends, 5 to 10 cm. long, 
margin entire, somewhat wavy; 
pellucid-punctate; brownish or 
brownish-green Lauras, 386. 

Broadly oval, about 5 cm. long, 
margin entire; rough on both 
sides, glossy on upper and hairy 
on under surfaces; brownish- 
green Boldns. 386. 

Linear, about 25 mm. long, margin 
revolute, dark-green above, 
whitish woolly, glandular, with 
prominent midrib underneath . . .Rosmarinus, 386. 

Lanceolate, short-petiolate, 7 to 10 
cm. long, to 25 mm. broad, mar- 
gin entire and somewhat wavy; 
thin, smooth, and often with 
scars from insects Dnboisia, 387. 

Ovate, petiolate, about 5 cm. long, 
margin entire; thick, glaucous, 
pale-green Jlanzanita, 388. 

Roundish-oval or obovate, about 4 
cm. long, 2 or more cm. broad, 
margin slightly serrate with 
appressed spicular teeth; smooth, 
glossy, green or brownish-green. Gaultheria. 274. 



654 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Oblanceolate, about 5 cm. long, 
margin serrate at apex and 
nearly entire near base; smooth, 
dark-green Cnimapnlla, 276. 

Oblong-lanceolate, 5 to 10 cm. long, 
margin irregularly dentate; green- 
ish or brown; upper surface 
smooth and covered with brown- 
ish resin, lower surface white- 
hairy Erioclyction, 277. 

GROUP XLVIII. 

COMPOUND CORIACEOUS LEAVES. 

Whole leaf with 8 to 10 leaflets; leaf- 
lets various sizes, 2 to 4 cm. long, 
lanceolete, uneven at base, entire, 
grayish-green Senna, 389. 

Whole leaf with 5 to 11 leaflets; 
leaflets about 10 to 15 cm. long, 
oval or ovate-oblong, emarginate, 
uneven at base, margin entire, 
pellucid-punctate, dull grayish- 
green. Pilocarpus, 390. 

GROUP XLIX. 

SIMPLE HERBACEOUS LEAVES. 
Broadly ovate, thin, smooth, 5 to 
15 cm. long, petiolate, apex taper- 
ing, margin entire; usually as 
"tops" with two unequal leaves 
at nodes . . Belladonnse Folia, 

394. 

Ovate, 10 to 30 cm. long, petiolate, 

margin crenate, reticulate on 

under surface, densely hairy Digitalis, 396. 

Lanceolate, about 10 to 15 cm. 

long, apex acute, base unequally 

cordate, margin finely crenulate, 

under surface with prominent 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 655 

venation and deeply reticulate. . jlatico, 397. 
Obliquely ovate or oval, about 10 

cm. long, short petiolate, margin 

irregularly sinuate or wavy- 

toothed Hamamelis, 398. 

Ovate to oblong lanceolate, acu- 
minate, petiolate, 15 to 25 cm. 

long, from 5 to 8 cm. broad, 

evenly feather-veined, margin 

serrate Castanea, 400. 

Ovate, petiolate, about 15 to 25 

cm. long, margin irregularly 

sinuously lobed or toothed, much 

wrinkled and broken Stramonii Folia, 

400. 

Oblong or oval-lanceolate, 10 to 
30 cm. long, petiole broadly 
winged, apex acute, margin 
crenate, gray-felty or hairy Verbasci Folia, 402. 

Large peltate leaf, about 9-lobed, 
up to 50 cm. or more across, lobes 
acuminate, margin serrate, much 
wrinkled and broken Ricini Folia, 402. 

Oval or ovate, lanceolate, up to 
50 cm. long, apex acute, margin 
entire, brown. Tabacum, 403. 

Rolled into small balls or cylin- 
ders; grayish-green, bluish-green 
to blackish Thea, 383. 

Ovate, irregularly lobed leaves, up 
to 25 cm. long, gray-green, hairy; 
usually as leafy tops; flowers or 
capsules within persistent 
calyces often present Hyoscyamus. ill. 

Frond of fern with triangular leaf- 
lets, with sporangia under re- 
curved edges of lobes, and thin 
glossy-brown stripes Acliantum. 1S1. 



656 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

GROU P L. 

COMPOUND HERBACEOUS LEAVES. 

Trifoliate, with long petiole, side- 
leaflets nearly sessile, leaflets 

entire or irregularly lobed Rims Toxi- 
codendron, 405. 

Outline round or subcordate, petio- 
late, 5 to 10 cm. in diameter, 3 to 
5-parted, the lobes deeply in- 
cised aud wedge-shaped Aconiti Folia, 406. 

I^arge, broad leaves, with hollow 
petiole, twice or thrice decom- 
pound Conii Folia, 407. 

Lorjg-petioled, bi or tri-pinnately 
decompound; lobelets entire, 
spatulate, somewhat fleshy Rnta, 409. 

GROUP LI. 

RACEMOSE OR CYMOSE INFLORESCENCES. 

I^arge panicles in bundles, rolls or 
compressed clusters; reddish- 
brown Cusso, 411. 

Bundles of one-sided racemes with 

about eight or nine bell-shaped 

flowers; scape about 15 cm. long.Convallariae 

Flores, 413 

Heads of small, reddish, papiliona- 
ceous flowers, with foliage leaves 
at base Trifolinm, 413. 

Pale yellowish-green bracts with 
cymes of three to nine flowers . . . Tilia, 414. 

Large corymbose cymes of yellow- 
ish color Sambuciis, 415. 

GROUP LI I . 

UNOPENED COMPOUND FLOWER- HEADS. 

Elongate, somewhat angular, scaly 
flower-heads, 2 to 3 mm. long, 
grayish-green; unopened.. Santonica, 416. 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 657 

GROUP LI II. 

EXPANDED COMPOUND FLOWER-HEADS. 

Heads about 3 cm. broad, with scaly 
involucre, flat receptacle, about 
15 to 20 yellow ray-florets and 
many disk-florets with pappus. . . Arnicse Flores, 418. 

Sub-globular heads, about 2 cm. 
broad, with imbricate involucre, 
conical solid receptacle, numer- 
ous white ligulate florets and few 
disk-florets Anthemis, 419. 

Heads about 2 cm. broad, with im- 
bricate involucre, conical hollow 
receptacle, 12 to 18 white ray- 
florets and many deep - yellow 
disk-florets Matricaria, 421. 

Heads depressed roundish, about 
2.5 cm. broad, with imbricate in- 
volucre, convex receptacle, about 
20 to 30 pinkish ray-florets and 

numerous yellow disk-florets Pyrethri Flores, 

422 
Heads sub-globular, about 4 to 8 

mm. broad, with imbricate invo- 
lucre, convex receptacle, and 
numerous yellow tubular florets . Tanacetum, 96. 

GROUP LIV. 

UNOPENED SINGLE FLOWERS. 

Subcylindrical calyx tube with four 
teeth, terminated by a corolla 
forming a globular head; about 
15 mm. long; brown Caryopbyllns, 422. 

Ovoid buds, about 12 to 15 mm. long, 
with 5-toothed calyx; pale brown- 
ish-yellow Anrantii Flores, 

424. 



658 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

GROUP LV. 

OPENED SINGLE FLOWERS. 

Simple Flowers: 

Small shriveled, pale brownish-yel- 
low, roundish grains Sambueiis, 426. 

Small two-lipped flowers with 
bluish-gray calyx and violet-blue 
corolla Lavandula, 427. 

Calyx grayish-green, felty, 5-parted; 
corolla 5-lobed, wheel-shaped, 

yellow Verbasci Flores, 

434. 

Iyight grayish-green, double calyx, 

felty with stellate hairs; petals 

purplish-black Althaea? Flores,427 

Similar to last, somewhat smaller, 

and the corolla bluish-purple in 

dry drug Malvse Flores, 429. 

Florets from Compound Flowers: 
Yellow, strap -shaped, fertile 

(female) ray-florets Calendula, 429. 

Deep-red, thin tubular, 5-lobed 

corolla, with projecting anther 

tube and style Carthanws, 430. 

Neuter (sexless ) florets, with tubu- 
lar corolla ending in 7 -parted 

blue limb Cyani Flores, 481. 

GROUP LVI. 

COROI^AS. 

Roundish-obovate or obcordate 
petals of pinkish color and fra- 
grant odor Rosa Centifolia, 

- & 432. 

Deep purplish-red cones, about 2.5 
cm. long, consisting of imbricated 
roundish petals Rosa Gallica, 433. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 659 

Five-lobed, wheel - shaped, hairy, 
yellow corolla, with five coherent 
anthers enclosed Verbasei Flores. 

434. 

Nearly round, thin, dark-red petal, 
about 5 cm. broad, with a blue- 
black spot at the base . Rhceadis Flores, 

435. 

Five obovate-cuneate, deep-red to 

purplish-black petals, each about 

2.5 to 4 cm. long, united at the 

base Althaea? Flores,427. 

Similar to last, but smaller and 

bluish-purple JIalva? Flores, 429. 

Deep-red, thin tubular, 5-lobed 

corolla, with projecting anther 

tube and Style . . Carlhanius, 430. 

Neuter (sexless) florets, with tubu- 
lar corolla ending in 7-parted 

blue limb Cyani Flores, 431. 

GROUP LVII. 

STIGMAS. 

Separate stigmas, or three attached 
to a style, linear-tubular, about 3 
cm. long, deep orange-brown 
with reddish tinge Crocus, 436. 

Tufts of soft, silky, thread-like, yel- 
lowish hairs, about 15 cm. long; 
the ends of the tufts often dried 
or shriveled together and dark- 
brown Zea, 438. 

GROUP LVII 1 . 

FRESH SPURIOUS FRUITS. 

Pitcher-shaped or ovate berry-like 

fruit, about 2 cm. long, bright 

glossy red, bristly hairy within. . Rosa Canina. 442. 
Globular or subglobular pome; 



660 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

green, russet, yellow, red or 
varicolored; acidulous sweet . .Malum, 442. 

GROUP LIX. 

FRESH FLESHY FRUITS. 

Oval, bright yellow fruits, with 
very acid juice Union, 445. 

Globular or subglobular, orange- 
colored fruits, with acidulous 
sweet juice Atirantii Fruclus, 

445. 

Globular green berry, about 2.5 cm. 
in diameter, with 4-lobed per- 
sistent calyx and about five seeds. Diospyros, 446. 

Globular or subglobular pome; 
green, russet, yellow, red or vari- 
colored; acidulous sweet Malum, 442. 

A collective or multiple fruit, 
composed of numerous small 
drupes; red or black Rubus Idaens, 447. 

Small round fruit resembling a 
berry, about 5 mm. in diameter, 
brownish-black with bluish 
bloom Juniperus, 451. 

GROUP LX. 

FRESH STONE FRUITS. 

Numerous red or black stone- 
fruits united into a small, round- 
conical cluster with hollow base; 
sweet, acidulous Rubus Idaens, 447. 

GROUP LXI. 

DRIED OR PREPARED SPURIOUS FRUITS. 

Strobile with flexible scales; yel- 
lowish-green Humulus, 449. 

Small, round fruit resembling a 
berry, about 5 mm. in diameter, 
brownish-black with bluish 
bloom Juniperus, 451. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 661 

Compressed, of irregular shape, 

fleshy, yellowish -brown; very 

sweet Ficus. 452. 

Cylindrical, about 4 to 5 cm. long, 

5 mm. thick, spirally nodulated, 

stalked, grayish-brown Piper Longum. 453. 

Dull greenish or greenish-brown 

fruit, about 1 mm. in diameter, 

depressed globular, obscurely 

lobed, containing a glossy black 

seed; peculiar odor and pungent 

taste Chenopodium, 454. 

GROUP LXII. 

DRY FRUITS. 

Capsules or Pods : 

Small, obtusely triangular, 3-celled 
capsules, 10 to 15 mm. long ; cen- 
tral placenta with many brown 
seeds ; pale buff Carclamomnm. 461. 

Eight reddish - brown woody folli- 
cles, arranged star-shaped; often 
some of the carpels are aborted; 
odor anise-like nudum, 463. 

Large, round or elongated, pale 
brownish-yellow capsules, 1- 
celled, with many parietal placen- 
tas and containing many white 
or bluish seeds Papaver, 465. 

Fleshy, linear, dark-brown pod, up 
to 25 cm. long by 8 mm. thick ; 
very fragrant Vanilla, 466. 

Hard, rigid, cylindrical, dark- 
brown pod, up to 60 cm. long by 
2.5 cm. thick Cassia Fistula, 468. 

Flat, broad, glossy brownish pod, 
about 10 to 20 cm. long, with up 
to 12 seeds; with sweetish pulp. Teratoma. 468. 



662 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

From 2 to 5 small, somewhat thick 

and fleshy pods attached to a 

short stalk; each about 5 mm. 

long and containing 1 or 2 glossy 

black seeds Xantboxyli 

Fructus, 470. 
Akenes: 

Obovate-oblong, brownish-g ray, 
somewhat curved akene, about 
6 mm. long Lapp:? Fructus, 

470. 
Sub-globular, brownish or green- 
ish-gray akene, about 4 mm. in 

diameter, with a single oily seed . Cannabis I nidus, 

471. 

Elliptic grain, about 7 to 9 mm. 
long, enclosed in straw-colored 
palese; taste farinaceous Horciei Frnctus, 

471. 
Ivike preceding in appearance, but 

with sweet taste Maltum, 471. 

Very small sub-globular utricle, 
about 2 mm. in diameter; dull 
greenish - brownish color; con- 
tains shining black seed Cbenopodium, 454. 

Elliptic, flattened, glossy pale-yel- 
lowish grain, about 4 mm. long. . Pbalaridis 

Fructus, 472. 

Cr^mocarps; usually remaining united; with oil 

tubes: 

Oval; each fruit with 5 obscure 
ridges and about 16 oil- tubes; 
grayish, finely hairy Anisnm, 472. 

Globular, hollow, some of the 
ridges wavy; each fruit with 2 
oil-tubes on inner face; brownish- 
yellow, smooth Coriandrum, 473. 

Elongated, compressed from sides; 
each fruit with 5 ridges and 6 oil- 
tubes; yellowish -brown; rough 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 663 

hairy Cnmini Frnctus. 

474. 
Elongated, nearly cylindrical, with 

5-toothed calyx, ridges not prom- 
inent; each fruit with 6 oil-tubes; 

brownish-green Piiellanclrii 

Frnctus, 474. 

Often remaining united; without oil tubes: 
Oval, compressed from sides; each 

fruit with 5 nodulated ridges 

and 2 deep lateral grooves; no 

oil-tubes; albumen crescent- 
shaped in transverse section; 

brownish-green Coninm, 475. 

Usually separating; with oil-tubes: 
Elongated, compressed from sides; 

each fruit with 5 obscure ridges 

and 6 oil-tubes; usually curved; 

brown C arum, 475. 

Elongated, nearly cylindrical; each 

fruit with 5 angular ridges and 6 

oil-tubes; smooth; yellowish- 
brown Foeniculum, 476. 

Roundish-ovate , compressed 

from sides; each fruit with 5 

obscure ridges and 6 oil-tubes; 

grayish-green Petroselini 

Frnctus, 477. 
Oval, compressed from back; each 

fruit with 3 sharp-keeled dorsal 

ridges and 2 long lateral ridges 

forming thin broad margins; 6 

oil-tubes; brown Anethi Frnctus, 

477. 

Very small, roundish-ovate, com- 
pressed from sides, smooth; each 
fruit with 5 angular ridges and 
12 to 15 oil-tubes; brown Apii Frnctns, 478. 

Elliptic, compressed from back; 
each fruit with 5 prominent 



664 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

ridges, the lateral ones larger, 

and 6 oil-tubes; yellowish-brown.;Levistici Fructns, 

478. 

Elliptic, compressed from back; 
each fruit with 3 prominent 
dorsal ridges and 2 long, flat, 
lateral ridges; numerous oil- 

tubes; yellow Angelica* Fructns, 

478. 

Oval, compressed from back; each 
fruit with 7 ridges, 2 lateral and 
2 dorsal spinous, and 3 dorsal 
short-hairy; 6 oil-tubes; grayish- 
brown Danci Fructns, 479. 

GROUP LXII1. 

FLESHY FRUITS, OR BERRIES, DRIED OR PREPARED. 

Small, wrinkled, black berries, 3 to 
4 mm. in diameter; pungently 
Spicy Piper Nigrum, 482. 

Oblong-conical, glossy red berry, 

about 2 cm. long; taste very hot.. Capsicum, 483. 

Very light, spongy, white or yel- 
lowish-white, globular fruits, 5 to 
10 cm. in diameter; very bitter. . Coiocynthis, 484. 

Soft, shriveled, flattened berries, 
brownish, translucent; very 
sweet Uvae Passae, 485. 

Roughly granular, hard, grayish- 
brown berries with circular scar 

at base Aurant.Fr. 

Immat., 486. 

Small compound berries with ten 

carpels, almost black; sticking 

together in lumps Pnytolacc. Fr., 487. 

Oval-oblong fruits, with 4 -cleft 

calyx; odor clove-like Antnophylli, 487. 

Small round fruit resembling a 

berry, about 5 mm. in diameter. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 665 

brownish-black with bluish 

bloom , Jiuiiperus, 451. 

GROUP LXIV. 

DRUPES, DRIED OR PREPARED. 

Globular, wrinkled, stalked, brown- 
ish-black drupe, 3 to 5 mm. 
diameter; odor and taste spicy. . rnbeba, 483. 

Oval, oblong or globular, bluish to 
blackish drupe, 3 to 4 cm. long; 
fruit-like odor and sweet taste . . Prnnum, 489. 

Roundish, wrinkled, blackish- 
brown drupe, about 6 mm. in 
diameter; odorless Coccnlus, 489. 

Obscurely lobed or roundish, wrin- 
kled, black fruit with four brown 
seeds, 5 mm. diameter; disagree- 
able odor, bitter taste Rhamni Cath. 

Fruct., 490. 

Globular drupe, 5 mm. in diam- 
eter, with 4-toothed calyx, red- 
dish-brown; spicy Pimenia, 491. 

Oval or subglobular drupe, 3 mm. 
in diameter, densely hairy, crim- 
son; taste acidulous Rhus Glabra, 491. 

Kidney-shaped drupe with grayish- 
brown rind and black acrid juicy 
pulp Anacardinni, 492. 

Similar to last, but heart-shaped 
and darker-brown Semecarpus, 493. 

GROUP LXV. 

PARTS OF FRUITS. 

Brownish-black pulp mixed with 
tough fibers and glossy brown 
seeds; acidulous vinous odor Tamarindns, 495. 

Globular, about 2 to 3 mm. in diam- 
eter, grayish- white ; peppery 
taste Piper Album, 495. 



G66 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Rind of fruit, in quarters, dirty 

brownish-green on outer and 

dirty white on inner surfaces ; 

fragrant Aurantii Amari 

Cortex, 497. 
Rind of fruit in spiral bands, dirty 

brownish-green on outer surface, 

with little whitish parenchyma 

on inner surface; fragrant Aurantii Amari 

Cortex, 497 

Rind of fruit, in quarters, orange- 
colored on outer, white on inner 

surfaces; fragrant Aurantii Diilcis 

Cortex, 498. 

Rind of fruit in spiral bands, lemon- 
yellow on outer, white on inner 

surfaces; fragrant Limonis Cortex, 

499. 
Irregular leathery fragments of 

reddish-brown rind, some pieces 
with hard, long, tubular calyx, 
and most pieces with oval depres- 
sions on inner surface; no odor. .Oranati Frnetns 

Cortex, 499. 

Fragments of fruit, hard brownish- 
gray rind, to the inner side of 
which dried pulp with seeds ad- 
heres; no odor Belse Frnetns, 500. 

Hard, thick, deep-brown rind, with- 
out adhering pulp, with remains 
of six-rayed stigma and of hard 
calyx; no odor Mangostana, 502. 

Oval grains, about 3 to 4 mm. long, 

yellowish-white, whiter at ends, 

yellowish-brown groove along 

one side Hordenm 

Perlatmn, 503 

GROUP LXVI. 

WHOLE SEEDS. 

IyARGE Seeds; with well-marked albumen: 
Oval, about 2.5 cm. long, netted- 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 667 

veined, with white markings from 

lime-dust, marbled within Myristica, 510. 

Round, Hat, disc-like seeds, about 
2.5 cm. in diameter and 4 mm. 
thick; gray and very hard Hfnx Vomica, 511. 

Irregularly ovate and angular, 
about 3 cm. long, brownish-black 
and very hard Ignatia, 513. 

Short rounded cone with flattened 
base; about 2.5 cm. long; brownish 
with network of reddish veins; 

heavy, hard Areca,5i3. 

Little or no albumen; two cotyledons: 

Ovate, flattened, pointed above, ob- 
tuse below; 2 to 2.5 cm. long; ex- 
ternally brown, white within ; 
agreeable nut-like taste Amygdala Dulcis, 

515. 

Appearance like last, but taste bit- 
ter with flavor of oil of bitter 

almonds Amygdala Amara, 

514. 
Oblong, somewhat kidney-shaped, • 

2.5 to 3 cm. long; chocolate- 
brown, with broad black groove 
on convex side Physostigma, 516. 

Oval, about 2 to 2.5 cm. long; with 
thin, fragile, reddish-brown shell. Ttaeobroma, 517. 

Oblong, 4 to 5 cm. long; blackish- 
brown, wrinkled ; odor vanilla- 
like Dipterix, 518. 

Oval, flat, about 1.5 cm. long; black, 
brownish-black or pale yellowish- 
brown with black edges Citrnllus, 519. 

Oval, flat, about 2 cm. long; whitish. Pepo, 519. 

Oblong - lanceolate, obtusely two- 
edged, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long; grayish- 
green, silky hairy Strophanthine 519. 



668 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Medium-sized Seeds; with well-marked albumen: 

Plano-convex, oval, grooved on flat 
side; about 1 cm. long; greenish- 
brown Caff ea, 520. 

Flattish-tetrahedral, about 5 to 7 
mm, long, externally reticulately 
ridged; brownish stapnisagria, 522. 

lanceolate, angular, about 6 mm. 
long, 1.5 to 2 mm. thick at thick- 
est end; glossy brownish-black; 
often mixed with the 3-celled 

capsules Sabadilla, 522. 

Little or no albumen; two cotyledons: 

Ovate or ovate^-oblong, triangularly 
compressed, about 8 mm. long; 
brown, with grayish epithelial 
scales; mucilaginous Cydonium. 523. 

Oblong-lanceolate, flat, thin, 
sharply two-edged, about 10 to 12 
mm. long; whitish Cucumis, 5.4. 

Sub-globular, about 6 to 8 mm. in 
diameter; scarlet-red with black 

Spot . . . .* Abrus, 525. 

Smai^i, Seeds; well-marked albumen-. 
Angular, often adhering to one 
another; about 3 mm. long; 

brownish-yellow Cardamomi 

Semen, 525. 
Obovate or nearly globular, finely 
pitted, 1 to 2 mm. in diameter; 

reddish-brown Colchici Semen, 

526. 

Kidney-shaped, flattened, pitted, 
about 3 mm. long; brownish- 
black . Stramoiiii Semen. 

526. 

Kidney-shaped, flattened, reticu- 
lately wrinkled, 1 to 1.5 mm. 

long; gray or yellowish-gray Hyoscyami 

Semen, 527. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 669 

Very small seeds, about 0.75 mm. 
long, oblong, reticulated, brown- 
ish; acrid JLobelite Semen, 

527. 

Kidney-shaped, reticulately 
wrinkled, pitted, about 1 mm. 

long, yellowish- white Papaveris Semen, 

528. 

Angular, obscurely tetrahedral, 

roughly nodulated or warty, 

about 1.5 to 2 mm. long; black. .Delphinium, 528. 
Globular, about 2 to 3 mm. in 

diameter, grayish or dirty white; 

peppery taste Piper Album, 529. 

Little or no albumen] two cotyledons: 
Oblong-ovate, flattened, 4 to 5 mm. 

long; glossy brown Linnm, 529 

Almost globular, finely pitted, 

with circular hilum; about 1 mm. 

in diameter; reddish-black Sinapis Nigra, 530. 

Almost globular, finely pitted, 

with circular hilum; about 1.5 

to 2 mm. in diameter; yellowish..Sinapis Alba, 530. 
Almost globular, nearly smooth; 

about 2 to 2.5 mm. in diameter; 

bluish or brownish-black Rapse Semen, 531. 

Oblong-angular, almost cubical, 

with a projection on one side; 

about 3 to 4 mm. long and about 

2 mm. broad; brownish Foenum Grseenm, 

531. 

GROUP LXVI I. 

COTYLEDONS OR SEED LEAVES. 

Ovate, fleshy, plano-convex cotyle- 
dons about 2.5 to 3 cm. long and 
half as broad; yellowish Qnercus Semen, 

533. 



670 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Elongated, fleshy; plano-convex co- 
tyledons, up to 4 cm. long; 

brownish-black Picluirim Majns, 

533. 

Similar to last, but only about 2 

cm. long, ovate; brownish-black. pichurim Minus, 

534. 
Round, flattish-ovate, plano-con- 
vex or irregular, somewhat con- 
torted cotyledons; brownish or 
reddish-brown Cola, 534. 

GROUP LXVIII. 

ARILU OR ADVENTITIOUS SEED- COATS. 

Fleshy, irregularly lobed and cleft 
bands, orange-brown; fragrant. . Macis. 537. 

GROUP LXIX. 

PARTS OF PLANTS, NOT EASILY RECOGNIZABLE 
AS such; WHOLE. 

Filiform, much-branched, horny, 

translucent thallus Chondriis, 116. 

Dark-brown or nearly black thal- 
lus with large air- vesicles incus, in. 

Iyong, round, stemlike, but without 
nodes and without cell differ- 
entiation within Laminaria, 118. 

Mixture of several small sea- weeds. Corsican Moss, 119. 

Irregularly lobed lichens, brownish- 
gray above and grayish-white be- 
low Cetraria, 120. 

Flat, brown lichen, with oval 
prominences on one side and cor- 
responding depressions on the 
other side Sticta, 121. 

Fusiform, purplish-black grains, 

from 2 to 5 cm. long Ergota, 122. 

Irregular b rown-black masses, 
partly membranaceous, partly 
pulverulent Ustilago, 124. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 671 

White, tough, light masses or 

fragments Agaricns, 125. 

Brown, pliable, velvety sheets Spunk. 125. 

Semi-fluid, viscid, frothy sub- 
stance Yeast, 126, 541. 

Round, dark-brown masses, pul- 
verulent within Puff-ball, 126. 

Light-yellow, very mobile and in- 
flammable powder Lycopodinm, 127. 

Flattish rhizomes, lobed, peeled, 
brownish, yellowish, or white 
from being limed Zingiber, 250. 

Narrow slices, up to 5 cm. long and 
10 to 15 mm. wide; thickest in 
middle; yellowish- white Scilla,272. 

Slender cylindrical, sometimes 
curved pieces, spongy, white Sassafras Pith, 285. 

Similar to last, but thicker and yel- 
lowish in color Elder Pith, 286. 

Elongated, somewhat angular, 
scaly, unopened flower-heads, 2 
to 3 mm. long; grayish-green Santonica, 416. 

Sub-cylindrical calyx-tube with 4 
teeth terminated by a corolla 
forming a globular head; brown; 
fragrant Caryophyllns, 422. 

Separate stigmas, or 3 attached to a 
style, linear-tubular, about 3 cm. 
long; deep reddish-brown Crocus, 436. 

Cylindrical, about 4 to 5 cm. long 
and 5 mm. thick, spirally nodu- 
lated, stalked, grayish-brown Piper Long-nm. 453. 

Oval or round grains, 2 to 4 mm. 
long, yellowish-white, whiter at 
ends, yellowish-brown groove 
along one side Pearled Barley, 

503. 



672 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Ovate, fleshy, plano-convex cotyle- 
dons, about 2.5 to 3 cm. long and 
half as broad; yellowish Acorns, 533. 

Elongated or ovate, fleshy plano- 
convex cotyledons, from 2 to 4 
cm. long; brownish-black Pichurim, 533. 

Fleshy, irregularly lobed and 
cleft bands, orange-brown, fra- 
grant Marts, 537. 

Round, hard, more or less nodu- 
lated, about 2 cm. in diameter ; 
dark-colored Gal I a, 555. 

Irregularly lobed, hollow thin- 
walled shells Chinese Galls, 556. 

Similar to last, but hairy and gray- 
ish Japanese Galls, 

556, 

Round, spongy, orange or yellow- 
ish-brown, up to 5 cm. or more in 

diameter American Galls. 

557. 

GROUP LXX. 

PARTS OF PLANTS NOT READILY RECOGNIZABLE 
AS SUCH; CUT OR OTHERWISE ALTERED. 

Cylindrical or cake-like masses, 
very hard, reddish-brown; odor- 
less ■ Guarana, 545. 

Black pieces, having the structure 
of wood, but consisting mainly of 
carbon; or black, odorless and 
tasteless powder, not gritty Carbo Li?ni, 546. 

Irregular brown-black masses, part- 
ly membranaceous, partly pul- 
verulent ITstilago". 124. 

White, tough, light masses Agaric, 125. 

Thin, brown, pliable, velvety 

sheets Spunk, 125. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 673 

Small, conical, light-brown, 
peeled, or glossy, dark brown, 
unpeeled pieces of fronds mixed 
with pieces of rhizome; green 
within Aspidlnm, 129, 547. 

Fragments of light porous roots, 
with thin grayish-brown bark 
under which is a net-work of 
lighter - colored fibro - vascular 
bundles tfethystioum, 176. 

Short, brownish-gray sections, 
wood spongy and bark easily 
separable, and flaring at cut ends . stillingia, 182. 

Tough, spongy sections with ir- 
regular bundles Sumbul, 190. 

Transverse and longitudinal sec- 
tions of a thick fleshy root with 
radiating bundles; grayish- 
brown Inula, 194. 

Large, round or piano - convex, 
orange - yellow pieces of root, 
peeled Rheum, 205. 

Transverse sections, greenish-gray 
outer surface, yellowish on cut 
surfaces Calumba, 208. 

Grayish-white transverse sections, 
hard, with prominent radiating 
and concentric lines Bryonia, 209. 

Decorticated roots, externally and 
internally white, mealy and 
fibrous Althaea, 210. 

Small, cubical, white pieces, about 
3 to 4 mm. in size; peculiar odor. Althaea, 210. 

Longitudinal and transverse sec- 
tions, with projecting white wood- 
bundles alternating with yellow- 
ish-gray parenchyma Phytolaccae 

Radix, 210. 



674 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Obconical, blackish-gray, with 
shriveled lighter- colored rootlets; 
sometimes cut into halves or 
quarters longitudinally, or into 

transverse slices Veratrum Viride, 

220. 

Obconical to sub-globular, annu- 
late, orange-brown; sometimes 
cut into transverse slices which 
are grayish-brown; slices some- 
times strung on strings Trillium, 223. 

lyongitudinal slices of rhizome, 
yellowish-brown, whitish within; 
show traces of nodes Folygonatnm, 225. 

Iv o n g , slender, yellowish-brown 
slices of rhizome ; in section plano- 
convex or concavo-convex; taste 
aromatic Calamus, 246. 

Thin, straw-like pieces, hollow, 

about 1 cm. long Tritioum, 248. 

Slender, nearly straight pieces, 
smoothly trimmed, 6 to 8 cm. 
long, white or cream-white, per- 
forated at one end Finder Orris, 

255, 547. 

Ovate, orange-brown disks or longi- 
tudinal slices of a thick rhizome; 
or circular transverse slices; odor 
and taste resembling ginger Zedoaria, 257. 

Kidney-shaped grayish-white 

slices Colonic*! Radix, 

257. 

Transverse slices with dark-gray 
epidermis and mealy-white sur- 
faces Arum, 269. 

Narrow slices, up to 5 cm. long, 10 
to 15 mm. broad, yellowish, di- 
aphanous, brittle Soilla, 272. 

Short, pale, grayish-green pieces of 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 675 

twigs, with smooth-cut ends; 

usually hollow Dulcamara, 283. 

Slender, cylindrical, sometimes 

curved pieces, spongy or pithy, 

white Sassafras 

Hednlla, 285. 

An irregularly coarse, grayish- 
brown powder, mixed with many 
tough, coarse fibers Quercus Alba, 371. 

Leaves rolled into small pellets 
or cylinders, grayish-green, blu- 
ish-green to blackish Thea, 383. 

Separate stigmas, or three attached 
to a style, linear-tubular, about 
3 cm. long; deep orange-brown 
with reddish tinge Crocus, 436. 

Oval grains, about 3 to 4 cm. long, 

or round grains half as large, 

yellowish-white, whiter at ends, 

yellowish-brown groove along 

One side Hordenm 

Perlattim, 503. 
Orange-red, irregularly lobed, 

fleshy bands; fragrant; often 

broken Macis, 537. 

GROUP LXXI. 

TRICHOMAS. 

Vegetable Glands: 

Granular, mobile, brick-red powder; 

no odor and little taste Kamala, 549. 

Brownish-yellow to yellowis h- 
brown powder; aromatic and bit- 
ter Lupulimmi, 550. 

Vegetable hairs: 

Delicate white curling hairs, from 
2 to 4 cm. long Gossypium, 551. 

Glistening, brownish-red silky pow- 
der, consisting of hairs about 2 



676 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

to 3 mm. long . . Mucuna, 552. 

Curling, glossy-brown, soft and 

delicate hairs, from 2.5 to 5 cm. 

long Penghawar. 182, 553. 

Liable to be taken for hairs or glands: 
Irregular, brown-black masses, 

partly membranaceous, partly 

pulverulent Ustilago, 124. 

Iyight-yellow, very mobile powder . Lycopodinm, 127. 
Hardly liable to mistake: 
Separate stigmas, or three attached 

to a style, linear-tubular, about 

3 cm. long; deep orange-brown 

with reddish tinge Crocus, 436. 

Tufts of soft, silky, thread-like, 

yellowish fibers, about 15 cm. 

long; the ends often matted 

together and dark-brown zea, 438. 

GROUP LXXII. 

EXCRESCENCES. 

Round, hard, more or less 
nodulated, about 2 cm. in diame- 
ter; dark-colored; often with 
round holes Gal la, 555. 

Irregularly lobed, hollow, thin- 
walled, slightly downy o r 
smooth, brownish Chinese Galls, 556. 

Similar to last, but hairy and 

grayish Japanese Galls,556. 

Round, spongy, orange or yellow- 
ish-brown, up to 5 cm. or more 
in diameter American Galls,557. 

GROUP LXXII I. 

STARCHES. 

Polyhedric granules, often adherent 
in clusters; uniform, with well- 
marked hilum Corn Starch, 561. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 677 

Lenticular or oval, medium-sized 

and small granules; layers and 

hilum indistinct. Wheat Starch, 561. 

Ovate, medium-sized, layers and 

hilum distinct; hilum at broad 

end and often cracked or cleft. . . Arrowroot 

Starch. 562. 

Ovate, large, layers very distinct; 
hilum at narrow end, small but 
distinct Potato Starch, 563. 

Polyhedric or angular, very small, 
uniform; hilum and layers in- 
distinct , . . .' Rice Starch, 563. 

Medium-sized, ovate, oblong, elliptic 
or irregular, often truncate at one 
end; layers and hilum distinct, 
the latter generally cleft Sago Starch, 563. 

Medium-sized, irregular, often mul- 
ler-shaped granules; layers in- 
distinct; hilum near rounded end. Tapioca Starch, 564. 
Macroscopic appearance: 

Small, round, pearly, white or 
brownish, opaque or slightly 
translucent lumps Sago, 563. 

Irregular lumps, white and opaque, 

or slightly translucent Tapioca, 564. 

GROUP LXXIV. 

ACIDS. 
Colorless, right- rhombic crystals; 

deliquesce in moist air; acid taste. Acidum Citricum, 

567. 

Colorless monoclinic prisms, or 

crystalline crusts; permanent in 

air; acid taste Acidum 

Tartaricum, 567. 

GROUPS LXXV AND LXXVI. 

INSPISSATED JUICES AND EXTRACTS. 

Inspissated Juices ( Group LXXVj : 



678 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Irregular sub-globular cakes, brown, 

with remnants of leaves or species 

of rumex fruit adhering to outer 

surface; heavy narcotic odor. .. .Opium, 570. 
Hard, orange -brown, opaque 

masses, with resinous fracture ; 

odor suggests saffron Aloe, 572. 

Small, angular, shining, brittle 

pieces, ruby-red and transparent 

in small fragments; odorless, .. Kino, 573. 
In quarter-sections of plano-convex 

cakes, or in irregular pieces; 

grayish-brown Eactucarium, 574. 

Extracts (Group LXXVl): 
Irregular, broken masses, brittle, 

dark-brown; sweetish astringent 

taste Catechu. 574. 

Dark-brown, almost black cakes or 

fragments; often cakes enclosed 

in paper boxes Logwood Extract, 

1 575. 

In round, black sticks, with an im- 
pression of trade-mark at one 
end; or, in large black lumps; 

very sweet Liquorice Extract, 

575. 
Sometimes in flat, scaly fragments; 

more commonly as a thick ex- 
tract-like mass, in jars French 

Eactucarium, 576. 

Apt to be mistaken for an extract: 
Cylindrical or cake-like masses, 
very hard, reddish-brown; odor- 
less Guarana, 545. 

GROUP LXXVII. 

SUGARS. 

White, hard, crystalline granules; 
very sweet Saccharum, 577. 



NOTES OX PHARMACOGNOSY. 679 

Cylindrical crystalline masses ; 
transparent, and very sweet Rook Cantly, 578. 

Yellowish granules or masses; 
sweet Glucose. 578. 

Flatfish, yellowish-white, porous 
flakes; honey-like odor and sweet 

taste Manna, 579. 

Bear in mind also the animal sugars: 

Cylindrical crystalline masses; yel- 
lowish-white, opaque; sweetish. .Saccharmn L,actis, 

38. 

Syrupy, sweet, aromatic, sometimes 

granular liquid Mel, 42. 

GROUP LXXVI I I. 
GUMS. 

Indistinct, transparent, crackled, 

colorless to yellowish tears; 

soluble in water Acacia, 530. 

In wavy and curved flakes, whitish, 

translucent; swells in water Tra^acaiiina, 581. 

GROUP LXXIX. 

GUM RESINS. 

Deep reddish or orange-yellow 
cylindrical solid or hollow pieces, 
or cakes; bright lemon-yellow 
when wetted Cambogia. 583. 

Greenish-black o r dark-grayish, 

more or less porous masses Scammonium, 584. 

Irregularly roundish tears, often 
hollow or enclosing foreign sub- 
stances; yellowish or yellowish- 
brown Eiiphorbiuiii. 584. 

Brownish, sticky mass; containing 
whitish tears in a pinkish-brown 
substance; odor very fetid Asafoetida, 585. 

In separate tears, or in masses, 
dirty white to pale-brown ex- 



680 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

ternally, bluish-white opalescent 
within; peculiar odor and bitter 
taste Ammoniacnm, 586. 

Tears or masses, friable, reddish- 
brown, with fatty or waxy frac- 
ture Myrrtaa, 586. 

Yellowish translucent tears, gener- 
ally rough and powdery exter- 
nally from attrition Olibanum, 587. 

Small, whitish to yellowish-brown 
translucent tears, with peculiar 
odor and acrid bitter taste Galbanum, 587. 

GROUP LXXX. 

RESINS. 

Roundish, pale-yellowish, trans- 
parent, brittle tears; becoming 
plastic when chewed Mastiehe, 591. 

Elongated, pale-yellowish, trans- 
parent tears; crumbling when 
chewed Sandaraca, 592. 

Roundish, yellowish or straw- 
colored transparent masses ; 
harder than rosin Dammara, 592. 

Irregular spherical or angular, yel- 
lowish to brownish pieces; trans- 
parent, hard Copal, 592. 

Brittle, dark reddish-brown, opaque 

lumps Resina Draconis* 

593. 

Brittle, dark reddish-brown, opaque 
sticks; often wrapped in palm- 
leaves Resina Draconis, 

593. 

Irregular brittle masses, or large 
tears; greenish-brown to reddish- 
brown Guaiaci Resina, 594. 

Small twigs surrounded by a brown- 
red resinous substance Lacca, 59i. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 681 

Thin, brittle, brown or reddish- 
brown scales Shellac. 594. 

Roundish or flat, pale-yellowish to 
brownish - red pieces ; dull ex- 
terior, glossy transparent within; 
hard Snccinum, 596. 

Yellowish or brownish, transparent, 
brittle masses Resina, 597. 

GROUP LXXXI. 

OI,EO-RBSINS. 

Transparent, more or less viscid 
liquid; yellowish brown; peculiar 
odor and bitter acrid taste Copaiba, 598. 

Tough, plastic, nearly solid yellow- 
ish mass; terebinthinate odor and 
taste Terebinthina, 599. 

Soft, yellowish mass, granular 
within; odor fennel-like and taste 
terebinthinate Elenii, 600. 

Thick viscid, clear transparent, pale- 
yellowish liquid; odor terebinthi- 
nate Terebinthina 

Canadensis, 600. 

Thick viscid liquid, similar to last, 

but turbid Terebinthina 

Veneta, 601. 

Yellowish-brown opaque mass; plas- 
tic by warmth of hand, brittle 
when cold; conchoidal trans- 
lucent fracture Pix Biirgnndiea, 

601. 

Dark reddish-brown opaque mass; 

brittle when cold; fracture resin- 
ous, translucent, conchoidal .... pix Canadensis, 

602. 
Thick blackish-brown, sticky viscid 

liquid, empyreumatic terebinthi- 
nate odor Pix Liquida, 602. 



682 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

GROUP LXXXIB. 

BALSAMS. 

A solid brown mass with whitish 
tears imbedded in it; strong bal- 
samic odor Benzoinum, 604. 

Nearly solid yellowish-brown sub- 
stance of uniform consistence; 

strong balsamic odor Balsamnm 

Tolutaiuitii, 605. 
A thick, syrupy brownish-black 

liquid; somewhat smoky balsamic 

odor Balsamnm 

Peruvianum, 605. 

Thick, viscid, gray, opaque, semi- 
solid substance; with agreeable 
balsamic odor Styrax, 606. 

Thick, brownish - yellow, clear 
liquid, or almost solid substance; 
odor balsamic Liquidambar, 606. 

GROUP LXXXIII. 

VOLATILE OILS. 

A clear, limpid liquid with 

terebinthinate odor Oleum 

Terebfntbinse, 608. 

List of volatile oils 609-615 

GROUP LXXXiV. 

FIXED VEGETABLE OILS AND FATS. 

Solid Vegetable Fats: 

Consistence of tallow, yellowish- 
white, odor of chocolate Bntyrum Cacao, 

618. 

Consistence of tallow, mottled 

white and brownish, odor of 

nutmeg Btityrttm Nucistse, 

618. 

Solid diaphanous substance re- 
sembling white wax Paraffinnm, 618. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 683 

Bear in mind also the animal fats: 

Hard, white, somewhat glossy 

masses (see group 6) Acidum 

Stearieum, 37. 

White solid, fatty masses (see 

group 6) Serum. 37. 

Semi- solid fats: 

Of the consistence of butter or 

lard, granular, green Oleum Lauri. 6i9. 

Of the consistence of butter, white; 

disagreeable odor Oleum Cocois.619. 

Of the consistence of butter, orange- 
colored; violet-like odor Oleum Palma?, 620. 

Of the consistence of a cerate or 
ointment, yellowish; slightly 

fluorescent Petrolatum. 620. 

Bear in mind also the animal fats: 

Soft, white, unctuous fatty sub- 
stance, (see group 7) Adeps, 40. 

Soft, yellowish-white fatty sub- 
stance (see group 7) Adeps L,ame, 41. 

Liquid Oils: 

Thin, clear, pale-yellow oil with 

nutty odor and bland taste oi. Amygdala? 

Expr., 620. 

Pale yellow oil without odor, and 
with a bland nutty taste oi. Gossypii, 621. 

Yellowish to yellowish-brown oil, 
with peculiar odor and bland 
taste Ol. L-ini, 621. 

Pale yellow, or light greenish- 
yellow oil; peculiar odor and 
nutty taste Ol. Olivae, 622. 

Viscid, nearly colorless oil; odor 
mildly nauseous, taste bland but 
afterwards acrid Ol. Ricini, 622. 

Yellowish oil, odorless, and with a 

bland, nutlike taste oi. Sesami, 622. 



684 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Yellowish-brown to deep brown, 

somewhat viscid; odor unpleasant 

and taste acrid oi. Tiglii, 623. 

Bear in mind also the animal oils: 
Yellowish to brownish oil with 

fishy odor (see group 8) ©1. Morrhnae, 43. 

Pale yellowish or colorless fixed 

oil (see group 8) oi. Adipis, 43. 

Pale yellow to yellowish-brown oil 

(see group 8) oi. Bubulum, 44. 

GROUP LXXXV. 

PECULIAR CONCRETE SUBSTANCES. 

White, translucent, crystalline 
masses; peculiar penetrating 
odor and bitterish pungent taste . Camphora, 624. 

In cakes, balls, hollow bottle- 
shaped or irregular pieces, black- 
ish-brown, very elastic Caoutchouc, 624. 

Grayish or yellowish-gray masses, 
streaked interiorly; not markedly 
elastic Oulta Percha,625. 

Iyight friable, grayish-green flattish 
.fragments; taste acrid bitter Elaterium, 625. 

GROUP LXXXVI. 

COLORING MATTERS. 

More or less firm, brittle masses; 
blue to purplish; insoluble in 
water Indigo, 627. 

Small, rectangular, blue or bluish 
cakes; colors water blue Litmus, 627. 

A purplish-red powder, impart- 
ing a beautiful color to diluted 
alcohol Persio, 628. 

Thick, deep reddish-purple liquid, 

with ammoniacal odor Orchil, 628. 

Usually an orange-red paste; some- 
times dry and friable cakes Aim.-itto, 628. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 685 



THERAPEUTICAL TERMS. 



Abortifacient: Causes abortion. 

Acid: Neutralizes alkaline condition of blood. 

Adjuvant: Assists action of main remedy. 

Aliment: Nutriment or food. 

Alkaline: Neutralizes acid condition of blood. 

Alterative: Gradually improves nutritive processes. 

An., Ant., or Anti: A prefix meaning "opposed to." 

Anaesthetic: Produces loss of sensation. 

Analgesic: Relieves pain. 

Anaphrodisiac: Reduces sexual desire. 

Anodyne: Relieves pain. 

Antacid: Neutralizes acid condition of blood. 

Antalkaline: Neutralizes alkaline condition of blood. 

Antarthritic: Against gout and rheumatism. 

Antasthmatic: Relieves asthmatic attacks. 

Antemetic: Checks vomiting. 

Anthelmintic: Kills intestinal worms. 

Antidote: Counteracts action of poisons. 

Antigonorrhoeic: Cures gonorrhoea. 

Antihysteric: Opposed to hysteria. 

Antilithic: Prevents formation of stone in bladder. 

Antinephritic: Beneficial in kidney troubles. 

Antiperiodic: Cures malarial fevers. 

Antiphlogistic: Reduces excessive bodily temperature. 

Antipyretic: Reduces excessive bodily temperature. 

Antirheumatic: Of benefit in rheumatism. 

Antiscorbutic: Against scurvy. 

Antiseptic: Prevents putrefaction; destroys germs. 

Antispasmodic: Relieves cramps and spasms. 

Antisqnamons: Against scaly skin diseases. 

Antistrnmatic: Against scrofula. 

Antizymotic: Prevents fermentation or contagion. 

Aperient: A gently purgative remedy or diet. 



^SG NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Appetizer: Improves appetite and digestion. 

Aphrodisiac: Increases sexual vigor and desire. 

Aromatic: Spicy; stimulates appetite and digestion. 

Aseptic: Free from disease germs. 

Astringent: Contracts tissues; checks secretions. 

Bitter: With bitter taste; stomachic and tonic. 

Blennorrhetic: Increases mucous secretions. 

Carminative: Expels flatus from bowels. 

Catalytic: Same as alterative. 

Cathartic: Purgative; stronger than a laxative. 

Caustic: Destroys or burns tissues by chemical action. 

Chalybeate: Contains iron in solution. 

Cholagogue: Increases flow of bile. 

Conspergative: Dusting powder. 

Corrective: Prevents disagreeable action of drugs. 

Corrosive: Destroys tissues. 

Cosmetic: Preparation to beautify skin, etc. 

Counter-irritant: Checks pain by external irritation. 

Deliriant: Produces delirium. 

Demulcent: Allays irritations; used internally. 

Dentifrice; For cleaning teeth. 

Deobstruent: Removes obstructive accumulations. 

Deodorant: Destroys foul and unhealthful odors. 

Depilatory: Removes superfluous hairs. 

Depressant: Sedative; allays irritability. 

Depresso-Motor: IyOwers activity of motor nerves. 

Diaphoretic: Increases perspiration. 

Disinfectant: Destroys infectious germs. 

Diuretic: Increases secretion of urine. 

Drastic Cathartic: A powerful purgative. 

Ecbolic: Aids in child-birth by contracting the womb. 

Eccritic: Promotes secretions and excretions. 

Eliminant: Promotes excretions. 

Emetic: Causes vomiting. 

Emetico-Cathartic: Causes vomiting and purging. 

Emmenagog-ue: Stimulates menstrual functions. 

Emollient: Allays irritation; used externally. 

Errhine: Increases nasal discharge. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 087 

Escharotic: Destroys tissue and produces scar. 

Evacuant: Increases evacuations. 

Excipient: Gives flavor or consistence to medicines. 

Excitant: A stimulating remedy. 

Exoitooiotor: Stimulates motor nerve-centers. 

Expectorant: Increases expectoration (from bronchi). 

Febrifnge: Cures fevers. 

Galactagogue: Increases flow of milk from breast. 

Gargle: For rinsing throat. 

Germicide: Destroys disease germs. 

Hematic: Acts on and through blood. 

Hemostatic: Arrests hemorrhage. 

Hydrasogne Cathartic: Causes profuse watery stools. 

Hypnotic: Produces sleep. 

Inebriant: Produces inebriation. 

Insecticide: Destroys insects. 

Irritant: Causes irritation. 

Laggniappe: Gratuity to a purchaser. 

Laxative: Mild cathartic. 

Lenitive: Soothing; slightly laxative. 

Eithontriptic: Dissolves calculi in bladder or kidney. 

Motor-Depressant: Lowers activity of motor nerves. 

Motor-Excitant: Stimulates motor nerve-centers. 

Mydriatic: Causes dilatation of pupil of eye. 

Narcotic: Depresses and may destroy nerve action. 

Nauseant: Produces nausea and relaxation. 

Nephritic: Beneficial in kidney troubles. 

Nervine: Nerve stimulant and tonic. 

Neurotic: Acts on and through the nerves. 

Nutrient or Nutritive: Nourishing. 

Parasiticide: Destroys parasites. 

Parturient: Facilitates child-birth. 

Poison: Destroys life. 

Protective: Aseptic or soothing dressing for wounds. 

Purgative: Cathartic; evacuates bowels. 

Refrigerant: Cools; allays heat and thirst. 

Restorative: Restores tissues to healthy condition. 

Rubefacient: Counter-irritant; reddens the skin. 



688 NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Sedative: Allays nervous irritability. 

Sialagogue: Increases flow of saliva. 

Solvent: Dissolves morbid secretions and deposits. 

Somniferant: Produces sleep. 

Soporific: Produces sleep. 

Spinant: Muscular excitant through spinal nerves. 

sternutatory: Causes sneezing. 

Stimnlant: Increases functional activity. 

Stomachic: Stimulates appetite and digestion. 

Styptic: Arrests hemorrhage. 

Sudorific: Increases perspiration. 

Suppurant: Causes suppuration. 

Tsenicide or Tsenifnge: Destroys tapeworms. 

Tonic: Promotes nutrition. 

Topical: A local remedy. 

Vaso-Motor: A vascular stimulant. 

Vermifuge: Destroys and expels intestinal worms. 

Vesicant: Produces blisters. 

Vulnerary: Useful in healing wounds. 

Zymic or Zymotic: Caused by fermentation. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 689 



POSTSCRIPT. 



I wish to acknowledge special indebtedness to the 
following sources of information which have been 
consulted in writing the text : 

Pharmacopoeia of the United States. 

Handbuch der Botanischen Pharmacognosy ; 
Schleiden. 

Pharmazeutische Waarenkunde ; Berg. 

Organic Materia Medica ; Maisch. 

Pharmacographia ; Flueckiger and Hanbury. 

United States Dispensatory. 

National Dispensatory. 

American Dispensatory. 

College Botany : Bastin. 

Lessons and Manual of Botany ; Gray. 

Text Book of Botany ; Sachs. 

Elements of Pharmacognosy ; Flueckiger and 
Tschirsch. 

American Pharmaceutical Association Pro- 
ceedings, and the Pharmaceutical Journals of 
the United States. 

Most of the illustrations are from original pen-and- 
ink drawings by the author, made direct from actual 
specimens, those most characteristic having been 
chosen for this purpose. Quite a number of the 
drawings, however, have been re-drawn from illustra- 
tions in other works, and special acknowledgment 
is due to : 

Atlas zur Pharmazeutischen Botanik ; Berg ; 
and Anatomischer Atlas zur Pharmazeutischen 
Waarenkunde ; Berg. 

Years ago the author made a large number of draw- 
ings of drugs for the Companion to the U. S. P., 



690 NOTKS ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 

Oldberg and Wall; thanks are due to Messrs. Wm. 
Wood & Co., publishers of the Companion, for per- 
mission to use those drawings for the present volume. 

Most of the specimens from which drawings were 
made were obtained from the collections belonging 
to the St. Louis College of Pharmacy and to the 
author, but thanks for specimens of drugs are due 
also to Messrs. Meyer Brothers Drug Co., and J. S. 
Merrell Drug Co., of St. Louis, to Prof. Henry H. 
Rusby, of the New York College of Pharmacy, and 
especially to the late Dr. Charles Rice, for more than 
twenty years chairman of the Committee for the Re- 
vision of the United States Pharmacopoeia. To these 
two gentlemen the author is indebted for a complete 
collection of authenticated barks official in the phar- 
macopoeia, the indigenous barks having been collected 
by botanists under their direction for the use of the 
committee. 

It is the hope of the author that these NOTES on 
Pharmacognosy may be of service to students of 
pharmacy, as well as to the active pharmacist, for 
whose use in the daily routine of business this book 
has mainly been written. 

the AUTHOR. 



INDEX. 



Abrus. 525. 

Absinthium, 92. 

Acacia, 580. 

Achillea, 93. 

Acid, citric, 567. 

Acid, stearic, 37. 

Acid, tartaric, 567. 

Acids, 567. 

Aconite leaf, 4C6. 

Aconite root, 200. 

Acorn, 533. 

Acrogenous structure, 158. 

Acrogens, 115. 

Adeps, 40. 

Adeps lanae, 41. 

Adiantum, 131. 

Admixture, 88. 

Adulteration, 87. 

Agaric, 125. 

Agaricus chirurgorum, 125. 

Alder, black, 363. 

Alder, tag, 385. 

Aletris, 228. 

Aleurone, 79. 

Algae, 115. 

Alkanet, 215. 

Allium, 271. 

Allspice, 491. 

Almond, bitter, 514. 

Almond oil, 620. 

Almond, sweet, 515. 

Alnus rubra, 333. 

Aloe, 572. 

Alstonia constricta, 355. 

Alstonia scholaris, 355. 

Althaese flores, 427. 

Althaea, 210. 

Amber, 596. 

Ambergris, 40. 

Ammoniac, 586. 



Amygdala amara, 514. 
Amygdala dulcis, 515. 
Amygdalae oleum expr., 620. 
Amylum, 558-565. 
Anacardium, 492. 
Anatomy, 6. 
Anethum, 477. 
Angelica fruit, 478. 
Angelica root, 191. 
Anise, 472. 
Anise, star, 463. 
Animal charcoal, 37. 
Animal drugs, 24. 
Annatto, 628. 
Annual rings, 156. 
Anthemis, 419. 
Anthophylli, 487. 
Apii fructus, 478. 
Apium, 478. 
Apocynum, 178. 
Apocynum androsaemi- 

folium, 180. 
Apple, 442. 

Aralia nudicaulis, 259. 
Arbor vitae, 280. 
Areca nut, 513. 
Arnica flowers, 418. 
Arnica root, 229. 
Arrow-root, 562. 
Arum, 269. 
Asafetida, 585. 
Asarum, 242, 
Asclepias, 189. 
Asclepias incarnata, 240. 
Ash, white, 359. 
Aspidium, 129, 547. 
Aspidosperma, 343. 
Aurantii amari cortex, 497. 
Aurantii dulcis cortex, 498. 
Aurantii flores, 424. 



692 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Aurantii fructus, 445. 

Aurantii fruct. immatur., 486. 

Ava kava, 176. 

Avens root, 243. 

Bael fruit, 500. 

Balm, 102. 

Balsam mounts, 53. 

Balsam of fir, 600. 

Balsam Peru, 605. 

Balsam tolu, 605. 

Balsams, 603. 

Barberry bark, 339. 

Bardanae radix, 215. 

Bark, 144, 147. 

Barks, classification, 312. 

Barks, structure, 296. 

Barley, 471. 

Barley, pearled, 503. 

Bast, 145, 147. 

Bast-cells, 82. 

Bearberry leaves, 381. 

Beeswax, 35, 36. 

Belae fructus, 500. 

Belladonna leaves, 394. 

Belladonna root, 203. 

Bengal quince, 500. 

Benne seed oil, 622. 

Benzoin, 604. 

Berberis, 339. 

Betel nut, 513. 

Beth root, 223. 

Bhang, 114. 

Bird pepper, 483. 

Birth root, 223. 

Bistort, 260. 

Bitter apple, 484. 

Bitter root, 180, 

Bittersweet, 283. 

Black alder, 363. 

Black cohosh, 235. 

Blackberry root bark, 339. 

Blackhaw, 367. 

Bladderwrack, 117. 

Blatta, 27. 

Blood root, 261. 

Blue cohosh, 238. 

Blue flag, 222. 



Boldo, 386. 
Boletus, 126. 
Bone, 33. 
Bone-black, 37. 
Boneset, 93. 
Botany, 44, 87. 
Boxwood bark, 330. 
Branches or twigs, 273. 
Bray era, 411. 
Brazil wood, 294. 
Broom, 105. 
Bryony, 209. 
Buchu, 379. 
Buckthorn bark, 366. 
Buckthorn berries, 490. 
Buds, flower, 422. 
Buds, leaf, 372. 
Bugleweed, 100. 
Bulbs, 270. 
Burdock root, 215. 
Burdock seed, 470. 
Burgundy pitch, 601. 
Butter of cacao, 618. 
Butter of nutmeg, 618. 
Butternut bark, 353. 
C Constituents of drugs, 24 
Cacao, 517. 
Cacao butter, 618. 
m Cactus grandiflorus, 284. 
Caffea, 520. 
Calabar bean, 516. 
Calamus, 246. 
Calculi cancrorum, 34. 
Calendula, 429. 
Calisaya bark, 319. 
Calumba, 208. 
Cambium, 147. 
Cambogia, 583. 
Campeachy wood, 295. 
Camphor, 624. 
Canada snake root, 242. 
Canada turpentine, 600. 
Canary seed, 472. 
Canella, 331. 
Cannabis, 113. 
Cannabis fructus, 471. 
Cantharis, 26. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



693 



Cantharis vittata, 26. 
Caoutchouc, 624. 
Capsicum, 483. 
Caraway, 475. 
Carbo animalis, 37. 
Carbo ligni, 546. 
Cardamom, 461. 
Cardamom seed, 525. 
Carota, 479. 
Carragheen, 116. 
Carrot fruit, 479. 
Carthamus, 430. 
Carum, 475. 

Caryophylli fructus, 4S7. 
Caryophyllus, 422. 
Cascara sagrada, 365. 
Cascarilla, 329. 
Cashew nut, Occidental, 492. 
Cashew nut, Oriental, 493. 
Cassia bark, 326. 
Cassia fistula, 468. 
Castanea, 400. 
Castor oil, 622. 
Castor leaf, 402. 
Castoreum, 30. 
Cataria, 99. 
Catechu, 574. 
Catnep, 99. 
Caulophyllum, 238. 
Cayenne pepper, 483. 
Celandine, 107. 
Celery seed, 478. 
Cell, 72. 

Cells, shapes of, 74. 
Cellulose, 72. 
. Cellwall, 72, 80. 
Cera alba, 36. 
Cera flava, 35. 
Ceratonia, 468. 
Cereus grandiflorus, 284. 
Cetaceum, 37. 
Cetraria, 120. 
Cevadilla, 522. 
Chamomile, 419. 
Chamomile, Dog, 420. 
Chamomile, English, 419. 
Chamomile, German, 421. 



Chamomile, Roman, 419. 

Charcoal, animal, 37. 

Charcoal, vegetable, 546. 

Chelidonium, 107. 

Chemistry, 6. 

Chenopodium, 454. 

Cherry bark, wild, 333. 

Chestnut leaf, 400. 

Chicory root, 189. 

Chimaphila, 276. 

China root, 256. 

Chinese fly, 26. 

Chionanthus, 369. 

Chirata, 97. 

Chittem bark, 365. 

Chocolate, 518. 

Chocolate bean, 517. 

Chondrus, 116. 

Churrus, 114. 

Cibotium, 132, 553. 

Cichorium, 189. 

Cimicifuga,235. 

Cinchona Calisaya, 319. 

Cinchona, pale, 322. 

Cinchona, red, 321. 

Ciuchona, yellow, 319. 

Cinnamon, cassia, 326. 

Cinnamon, Ceylon, 327. 

Cinnamon, Saigon, 328. 

Citric acid, 567. 

Citrullus, 519. 

Civet, 41. 

Classification of drugs, 11. 

Classification, physical, 15. 

Classification, therapeuti'1,14. 

Closed bundles, 159. 

Clover, red, 413. 

Cloves, 422. 

Coca. 381. 

Cocculus, 489. 

Coccus, 25. 

Cochineal, 25. 

Cockroach, 27. 

Cocoa, 517. 

Cocoa nut oil, 619. 

Cod liver oil, 43. 

Coffee, 520. 



694 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Cola, 534. 

Colchicum seed, 526. 
Colchicum tuber, 267. 
Colla, 39. 

Collenchyma, 505. 
Collinsonia, 244. 
Colocynth, 484. 
Colombo, 208. 
Colombo, American, 216. 
Coloring" matters, 626. 
Comfrey, 213. 
Compositae, 92. 
Conium fruit, 475. 
Conium leaf, 407. 
Convallaria flowers, 413. 
Convallaria rhizome, 221. 
Copaiba, 598. 
Copal, 592. 
Coptis, 109. 
Coriander, 473. 
Cork, 138. 
Corms, 263. 
Corn flower, 431. 
Corn starch, 561. 
Cornsilk, 438. 
Cornsmut, 124. 
Cornus circinata, 331. 
Cornus florida, 330. 
Cornus sericea, 331. 
Corsican moss, 119. 
Corydalis, 266. 
Cosmoline, 620. 
Coto bark, 361. 
Cotton, 551. 
Cotton root bark, 346. 
Cotton seed oil, 621, 
Cotula, 420. 
Couch Grass, 248. 
Cousso, 411. 
Cowhage, 552. 
Crabstones, 34. 
Crampbark, 349. 
Cranesbill, 262. 
Crocus, 436. 
Croton oil, 623. 
Cryptogams, 114. 
Cubeb, 488. 



Cucumber seed, 624, 

Cucumis, 524. 

Cudbear, 628. 

Culver's root, 241. 

Cuminum, 474. 

Cundurango, 350. 

Cuprea bark, 323. 

Curcuma, 253. 

Currants, 486. 

Cusso,411. 

Cutch, 574. 

Cuticle, 138. 

Cuttlefish bone, 33. 

Cyani flores, 431. 

Cydonium, 523. 

Cynosbata, 442. 

Cypripedium, 224. 

D. Description of drugs, 22, 

Damiana, 382. 

Dammar, 592. 

Dandelion, 188. 

Daucus, 479. 

Delphinium, 528. 

Diagnosis, 7. 

Digitalis, 396. 

Dill, 477. 

Dioscorea, 227. 

Diospyros, 446. 

Dipterix. 518. 

Direction of sections, 137. 

Dita bark, 3£5. 

Dog grass, 248. 

Dogsbane, 180. 

Dogwood bark, 330. 

Dogwood, Jamaica, 354. 

Dogwood, round- leaved, 331. 

Dogwood, swamp, 331. 

Dracontium, 223. 

Dragon's blood, 593. 

Drawing with microscope, 70. 

Drugs, definition of, 9. 

Drugs, animal, 24. 

Drugs; vegetable, 44. 

Dry mounts, 52. 

Duboisia, 387. 

Ducts, 84, 85, 136. 

Dulcamara, 283. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



695 



Egg, 27. 
Elastica, 624. 
Elaterium, 625. 
Elder flowers, 426. 
Elder pith, 286. 
Elecampane, 194. 
Elemi, 600. 
Elm bark, 358. 
Endogenous structure, 139. 
Equisetaceae, 128. 
Equisetum, 128, 
Ergot, 122. 
Eriodyction, 277. 
Erythroxylon, 381. 
Eucalyptus, 378. 
Euonymus, 348. 
Eupatorium, 98. 
Euphorbium, 5S4 
Exogenous structure, 144. 
Extracts, 508. 
Fel bo vis, 43. 
Fennel, 476. 
Fenugreek, 531. 
Fernientuin, 126, 541. 
Fernambuco, 294. 
Ferns, 129. 

Fibrovascular bundles, 137. 
Ficus, 452. 
Fig, 452. 
Filices, 129. 
Filixmas, ]29, 547. 
Finger orris, 255, 547. 
Fish -berry, 4S9. 
Fixed oils and fats, 615. 
Flax seed, 529. 
Florentine orris, 254, 547. 
Flcres cinae, 416. 
Flores naphae, 424. 
Flores rhoeadis, 435. 
Flores sainbuci, 426. 
Flowering tops, 89. 
Flowers, 409. 
Foeniculum, 476. 
Foenum Graecum, 531. 
Foxglove, 396. 
Fractures in drugs, 22. 
Frangula, 366. 



Frasera, 216. 

Fraxinus, 359. 

Fringetreebark, 369. 

Fruits, 439. 

Fucus, 117. 

Fuudamental tissue, 140, 145 

Fungi, 122. 

Fustic, 296. 

Galanga, 252. 

Galbanum, 587. 

Galla, 555. 

Galls, 555. 

Gamboge, 583. 

Garden rue, 409. 

Garlic, 271. 

Gaultheria, 274. 

Gelatin, 39. 

Gelsemium, 174. 

Gentian, 207. 

Gentian, American, 216. 

Gentianaceae,97. 

Geranium, 262. 

Geuni, 243. 

Giilenia, 242. 

Ginger, 250. 

Ginger, wild, 242. 

Ginseng, 192. 

Glands, 136. 

Glucose, 578. 

Glue, 39. 

Glycerin mounts, 60. 

Glycyrrhiza, 173. 

Golden rod, 96. 

Golden seal, 235. 

Gold-thread, 109. 

Gossj'pii rad. cort., 346. 

Gossypii sem. ol., 621. 

Gossypium, 551. 

Graminis rhizoma, 24S. 

Granati fruct. cort., 499. 

Granatum, 370. 

Grape sugar, 578. 

Grindelia, 94. 

Groups of drugs, 18. 

Group 1 — 25. 

Group 2—25. 

Group 3—27. 



696 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Group 4—28 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 

Group 



4- 

5—32. 

6—34. 

7—40. 

8—42. 

9—89. 

10—115. 

11-119. 

12—122. 

13—127. 

14—128. 

15—129. 

16—162. 

17—169. 

18—178. 

19—182. 

20—185. 

21—199. 

22-218. 

23—229. 

24—233. 

25—245. 

26—246. 

27—249. 

28—257. 

29—260. 

30—265. 

31—267. 

32-270. 

33—272. 

34—273. 

35—280. 

36—282. 

37—285. 

38—288. 

39-291. 

40—315. 

41—323. 

42—341. 

43—356. 

44—360. 

45—371. 

46—372. 

47—376. 

48—388. 

49—392. 

50—404, 



Group 51—410. 
Group 52—415. 
Group 53—417. 
Group 54—422. 
Group 55—425. 
Group 56—431 
Group 57-436. 
Group 58—441. 
Group 59—443. 
Group 60—447. 
Group 61—448. 
Group 62-455. 
Group 63—480. 
Group 64—487. 
Group 65—493. 
Group 66—505. 
Group 67—532. 
Group 68—535. 
Group 69—539. 
Group 70—542. 
Group 71—548. 
Group 72-554. 
Group 73—558. 
Group 74—567. 
Group 75—568. 
Group 76—568. 
Group 77—576. 
Group 78—579. 
Group 79—582. 
Group 80—588. 
Group 81-597. 
Group 82—603. 
Group 83—607. 
Group 84—615. 
Group 85—623. 
Group 86—626. 
Guaiac resin, 594. 
Guaiac wood, 292. 
Guarana, 545. 
Guaza, 113. 
Gum Arabic, 580. 
Gums, 579. 
Gum-resins, 582. 
Gunja, 113. 
Guru nuts, 534. 
Gutta percha, 625. 
H. Habitat of drugs, 21. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



697 



Haematoxylon, 295. 
Hamamelis bark, 364. 
Hamamelis leaf, 398. 
Hasheesh, 114. 
Hedeoma, 100. 
Hellebore, American, 220. 
Helminthochorton, 119. 
Helonias, 227. 
Hemlock fruit, 475. 
Hemlock leaf, 407. 
Hemp, Canadian, 178. 
Hemp, black Indian, 178. 
Hemp, Indian, 113. 
Hemp, white Indian, 240. 
Hemp seed, 471. 
Henbane, 111. 
Henbane seed, 527. 
Herbs, 89. 
Hips, 442. 
Hirudo, 25. 
Histology, 6. 
Histology, vegetable, 71. 
Hoarhound, 102. 
Hollyhock flowers, 427. 
Honey, 42. 
Hops, 449. 
Hoptree bark, 340. 
Hordeum, 471. 
Hordeum per latum, 503. 
Horsemint, 104. 
Horsetail, 128. 
Humulus, 449. 
Hydrangea, 177. 
Hydrastis, 235. 
Hyoscyamus, 111. 
Hyoscyamus seed, 527. 
Hyraceum, 40. 
Iceland moss, 120. 
Ichthyocolla, 28. 
Ignatia, 513. 
Illicium, 463. 
Imperatoria, 196. 
India rubber, 624. 
Indian hemp, 113. 
Indian hemp, black, 178. 
Indian hemp, white, 240. 
Indian physic, 242. 



Indian tobacco, 106. 
Indian turnip, 269. 
Indicum, 627. 
Indigo, 627. 

Intercellular spaces, 135. 
Inula, 194. 
Inulin, 79. 
Ipecacuanha, 183. 
Ipecac, American, 242. 
Iris Florentina, 254, 547. 
Iris versicolor, 222. 
Irish moss, 116. 
Isinglass, 28. 
Jaborandi, 390. 
Jalap, 186. 

Jamaica dogwood, 354. 
Jasmine, yellow, 174. 
Jecquirity bean, 525. 
Jimson weed, 400. 
Juglans, 353. 
Juices, inspissated, 568. 
Juniper berries, 451. 
Juniper wood, 293. 
Kamala, 549. 
Kava, 176. 
Kefir, 126. 
Kino, 573. 
Kola, 534. 
Kousso, 411. 
Krameria, 170. 
Labiatae, 98. 
Lac, 594. 
Lacmus, 627. 
Lactucarium, 574. 
Lactucarium, French, 576. 
Lady's slipper, 224. 
Laminaria, 118. 
Lapilli cancrorum, 34. 
Lappa, 215. 
Lappae fructus, 470. 
Lappae radix, 215. 
Lard, 40. 
Lard oil, 43. 
Larkspur seed, 528. 
Laurel leaf, 386. 
Laurel oil, 619. 
Laurus, 386. 



698 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Lavandula, 427. 

La vender flowers, 427. 

Leaf buds, 372. 

Leaves, 373. 

Leech, 25. 

Leguminosae, 105. 

Lemon fruit, 445. 

Lemon peel, 499. 

Leptandra, 241. 

Levisticum fruit, 478. 

Levisticum root, 196. 

Lichen Islandicus, 120. 

Lichen pulmonarius, 121. 

Lichens, 119. 

Licorice extract, 575. 

Licorice loot, 173. 

Lignin, 146. 

Lignum guaiaci, 292. 

Lignum santali, 290. 

Lignum vitse, 292. 

Ligustici fructus, 478. 

Ligustici radix, 196. 

Lily of the valley flowers, 413. 

Lily of the valley rhizome, 221 

Limonis cortex, 499. 

Limonis fructus, 445. 

Linden flowers, 414. 

Linseed, 529. 

Linseed oil, 621. 

Linum, 529. 

Liquidambar, 606. 

Liquorice extract, 575. 

Liquorice root, 173. 

Liriodendron, 337. 

Litmus, 627. 

Lobelia herb, 106. 

Lobelia seed, 527. 

Lobeliacese, 106. 

Logwood, 295. 

Logwood extract, 575. 

Loveage fruit, 478. 

Loveage root, 196. 

Lungmoss, 121. 

Lupulin, 550. 

Lycoperdon, 126. 

Lycopodiacese, 127. 

Lycopodium, 127. 



Lycopus, 100. 
Mace, 537. 
Magnolia, 336. 
Maidenhair fern, 131. 
Majorana, 101. 
Malefern, 129, 547. 
Mallow flowers, 427. 
Malt, 472. 
Malum, 442. 
Malvse flores, 427. 
Manna, 579. 
Mandrake, 258. 
Mangosteen, 502. 
Manzanita, 388. 
Marigold, 429. 
Marjoram, 101. 
Marrubium, 102. 
Marshmallow, 210. 
Masterwort, 196. 
Mastic, 591. 
Matico, 397. 
Matricaria, 421. 
May apple, 258. 
Medulla, 135, 144, 147. 
Medulla sambuci, 286. 
Medulla sassafras, 285. 
Medullary rays, 147. 
Mel, 42. 
Melissa, 102. 
Menispermum, 239. 
Mentha piperita, 103. 
Mentha viridis, 103. 
Meristem, 144, 145, 147. 
Method of study, 21. 
Methysticum, 176. 
Mezereum, 347. 
Microscopy, 6, 46. 
Milfoil, 93. 
Milk sugar, 38. 
Milkweed, swamp, 240. 
Mistletoe, 279. 
Monarda, 104. 
Monkshood leaf, 406. 
Monkshood root, 200. 
Moschus, 29, 38. 
Mother cloves, 4S7. 
Mucuna, 552. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



699 



Mullein flowers, 434. 

Mullein leaf, 402. 

Musk, 29, 38. 

Musk root, 190. 

Mustard, black, 530. 

Mustard, white, 530. 

Mylabris, 26. 

Myristica, 510. 

Myrrh, 586. 

N. Names of drugs, 21. 

Neatsfoot oil, 44. 

Night-blooming cereus, 284. 

Nightshade, deadly, 203, 391. 

Nucleus, 72. 

Nucleus sheath, 139. 

Nutgalls, 555. 

Nutmeg, 510. 

Nutmeg oil, 618. 

Nux vomica, 511. 

O. Origin of drugs, 21. 

Oak bark, 371. 

Odor, 24. 

Oil of almonds, 620. 

Oil of cade, 603. 

Oil of turpentine, 608. 

Oils, fixed, 615. 

Oils, volatile, 607—615. 

Oleo-resins, 597. 

Oleum adipis, 43. 

Oleum amy gd. expressum,620. 

Oleum bubulum, 44. 

Oleum cocois, 619. 

Oleum gossypii seminis, 621. 

Oleum lauri, 619. 

Oleum lini, 621. 

Oleum morrhuae, 43. 

Oleum myrist. expressum, 618. 

Oleum nucistae, 618. 

Oleum olivae, 622. 

Oleum palmae, 620. 

Oleum ricini, 622. 

Oleum sesami, 622. 

Oleum terebinthinae, 608. 

Oleum theobromatis, 618. 

Oleum tiglii, 623. 

Olibanum, 587. 

Olive oil, 622. 



Open bundles, 159. 
Opium, 570. 
Orange, 445. 
Orange berries, 486. 
Orange flowers, 424. 
Orange peel, bitter, 497. 
Orange peel, sweet, 498. 
Orange, unripe, 486. 
Orchil, 628. 
Orleana, 628. 
Orris, finger, 255,547. 
Orris, Florentine, 254, 547. 
Os, 33. 

Os sepiae, 33. 
Ovum, 27. 
Ox gall, 43. 

Paku-kidang, 132,553. 
Palm oil, 620. 
Palmae Christi radix, 267. 
Panax, 192. 
Papaver, 465. 
Papaveraceae, 107. 
Papaveris semen, 528. 
Paracoto bark, 362. 
Paraffin, 618. 
Pareira brava, 171. 
Parenchyma, 81, 134. 
Parilla, yellow, 239. 
Parsley fruit, 477. 
Parsley root, 198. 
Passulae, 485. 
Pasque flower, 110. 
Pathology, 7. 
Pellitory, 193. 
Penghawar, 132, 553. 
Pennyroyal, 100. 
Pepper, black, 482. 
Pepper, Cayenne, 483. 
Pepper, long, 453. 
Pepper, red, 484. 
Pepper, Spanish, 483. 
Pepper, white! 495. 
Peppermint, 103. 
Pepo, 519. 

Permanent mounts, 50 
Pernambuco,294. 
Persimmon, 446. 



700 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Persio, 628. 

Peruvian balsam, 605. 
Peruvian bark, 319. 
Petrolatum, 620. 
Petroselini fructus, 477. 
Petroselini radix, 198. 
Phalaris, 472. 
Pharmaco-dynamics, 10. 
Pharmacognosy, 9. 
Pharmacognosy system, 16. 
Pharmacology, 7. 
Pharmacy, 9. 
Phellandrium, 474. 
Phloem, 145. 
Phoradendron, 279. 
Photo-micrographs, 66. 
Physics, 6. 
Physiology, 6. 
Physostigma, 516. 
Phytolaccae fructus, 487. 
Phytolaccae radix, 210. 
Pichurim, 533. 
Pilocarpus, 390. 
Pimenta, 491. 
Pimpernel, 198. 
Pimpinella, 198. 
Pine tar, 602. 
Pinkroot, 237. 
Piper album, 495. 
Piper longum, 453. 
Piper nigrum, 482. 
Pipsissewa, 276. 
Piscidia, 354. 
Pith, 135, 144, 147. 
Piths, 285. 
Pitted cells, 83. 
Pix Burgundica, 601. 
Pix liquida, 602. 
Pleurisy root, 189. 
Podophyllum, 258. 
Poison ivy, 405. 
Poison oak, 405. 
Poke berries, 487. 
Poke root, 210. 
Polygonatum, 225. 
Polypodium, 132. 
Pomegranate bark, 370. 



Pomegranate rind, 499. 
Poplar buds, 373. 
Poppy capsules, 465. 
Poppy flowers, 435. 
Poppy seed, 528. 
Populi gemmae, 373. 
Potato bug, 26. 
Potato starch, 563. 
Prickly ash bark, 368. * 
Prickly ash berries, 470. 
Prince's pine, 276. 
Prinos, 363. 
Procambiuni, 159. 
Prognosis, 7. 
Prosenchyma, 81, 134, 136. 
Protein grains, 80. 
Protoplasm, 75. 
Prune, 489. 
Prunum, 489. 
Prunus Virginiana, 333. 
Pseudo-parenchyma, 134. 
Ptelea, 340. 
Puffball, 126. 
Pulsatilla, 110. 
Pulu, 132, 553. 
Pumpkin seed, 519. 
Purging cassia, 468. 
Pyrethrum, 193. 
Pyrethrum flowers, 422. 
Quassia, 289. 
Quebracho, 343. 
Quebracho, false, 345. 
Queen's root, 182. 
Quercus alba, 371. 
Quercus semen, 533. 
Quick grass, 248. 
Quillaja, 358. 
Quince, Bengal, 500. 
Quince seed, 523. 
Raisins, 485. 
Ranunculaceae, 109. 
Rape seed, 531. 
Raphides, 77. 
Raspberry, 447. 
Red saunders, 294. 
Resina, 597. 
Resina draconis, 593. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



701 



Resina guaiaci, 594. 

Resins, 588. 

Rhamni cathart. fruct., 490. 

Rhamnus Purshiana, 365. 

Rhatany, 170. 

Rheum, 205. 

Rhizomes, 217. 

Rhois glabrae cortex, 351. 

Rhois glabrae fructus, 491. 

Rhubarb, 205. 

Rhus glabra, 491. 

Rhus Toxicodendron, 405. 

Rice starch, 563. 

Ricinus leaf, 402. 

Ricinus oil, 621. 

Rock-brake, 132. 

Roots, 161. 

Roots, structure of, 133. 

Rosa canina, 442. 

Rosa centifolia, 432. 

Rosa Gallica, 433. 

Rose hips, 442. 

Rose, pale, 432. 

Rose, red, 433. 

Rosemary, 386. 

Rosin, 597. 

Rosmarinus, 386. 

Rottlera, 549. 

Rubus, 339. 

Rubus Idaeus, 447. 

Rue, 409. 

Rumex, 212. 

Ruta, 409. 

Sabadilla, 522. 

Sabina, 281. 

Saccharum, 577. 

Saccharum lactis, 38. 

Safflower, 430. 

Saffron, American, 430. 

Saffron, Spanish, 436. 

Sage, 383. 

Sago, 563. 

Salep, 266. 

Salix, 357. 

Salvia, 383. 

Sambuci medulla, 286. 

Sambucus, 426. 



Sandal wood, 290. 
Sandarac, 592. 
Sanguinaria, 261. 
Sanguis draconis, 593. 
Santalum rubrum, 294. 
Santonica, 416. 
Saponaria, 213. 
Sarsaparilla, 162. 
Sarsaparilla, false, 259 
Sassafras bark, 332. 
Sassafras nuts, 533. 
Sassafras pith, 285. 
Savin, 2S1. 
Scammony, 584. 
Scilla, 272. 

Sclerenchyma, 81, 134. 
Scoparius, 105. 
Scouring rush, 128. 
Scutellaria, 104. 
Sea tangle, 118. 
Sections of drugs, 50, 54, 138. 
Seeds, 503. 
Semecarpus, 493. 
Senega, 206. 
Senna, 389. 
Serpentaria, 232. 
Sevum, 37. 
Shellac, 595. 
Siliqua dulcis, 468. 
Simaruba, 335. 
Sinapis alba, 530. 
Sinapis nigra, 530. 
Skullcap, 104. 
Skunk cabbage, 223. 
Slippery elm, 358. 
Smilax, China, 256. 
Snake root, Canada, 242. 
Snake root, Virginia, 232. 
Soap bark, 358. 
Soap root, 213. 
Soapwort, 213. 
Solanacese, 111. 
Solidago, 96. 
Solomon's seal, 225. 
Sophistication, 88. 
Spanish fly, 26. 
Spearmint, 103. 



702 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



Spermaceti, 37. 
Spigelia, 237. 
Sponge, 32. 
Spunk, 125. 
Spurious rings, 158. 
Squaw root, 238. 
Squill, 272. 
Squirrel corn, 266. 
St. John's bread, 468. 
Staphisagria, 522. 
Star anise, 463. 
Starch, 78. 
Starches, 558—565. 
Stavesacre, 522. 
Stearic acid, 37. 
Stems, structure of, 133. 
Sticta, 121. 
Stillingia, 182. 
Stinkweed, 400. 
Stone root, 244. 
Stramonium leaf, 400. 
Stramonium seed, 526. 
Strophanthus, 519. 
Structure, acrogenous, 158. 
Structure, endogenous, 139. 
Structure, exogenous, 144. 
Structure of drugs, 23. 
Storax, 606. 
Sty rax, 606. 
Symplocarpus, 223. 
Substitution, 88. 
Succinum, 596. 
Suet, 37. 
Sugar, 577. 
Sugar, grape, 578. 
Sugar of milk, 38. 
Sugars, 576. 
Sumach bark, 351. 
Sumach berries, 491. 
Sumbul, 190. 
Swamp dogwood, 331. 
Swamp milkweed, 240. 
Sweet flag, 246. 
Sweet gum, 606. 
Sweet oil, 622. 
Symphetum, 213. 
Synopsis of groups, 629. 



Systems of tissues, 86. 
Tabacum, 403. 
Tag alder, 335. 
Tallow, 37, 
Tamarind, 495. 
Tanacetum, 96. 
Tansy, 96. 
Tapioca, 564. 
Tar, 602. 
Taraxacum, 188. 
Tartaric acid, 567. 
Taste, 24. 
Tea, 383. 

Terebinthina, 599. 
Terebinthinae oleum, 608. 
Terra Japonica, 574. 
Thallogens, 114. 
Thea, 383. 
Theobroma,517. 
Theobromatis oleum, 618. 
Therapeutical terms, 685. 
Thorn-apple, 400. 
Thoroughwort, 93. 
Thuja, 280. 
Tilia, 414. 

Tissues, cellular, 134. 
Tobacco, 403. 
Tolu balsam, 605. 
Tonco, 518. 
Tonka bean, 518. 
Tormentilla, 263. 
Toxicodendron, 405. 
Tragacanth,581. 
Trefoil bark, 340, 
Trichomes, 548. 
Trifolium, 413. 
Trillium, 223. 
Triticum, 248. 
Tubers, 263. 
Tulip-tree bark, 337. 
Turkey corn, 266. 
Turkey pea, 266. 
Turmeric, 253. 
Turnera ; 382. 
Turpentine, 599. 
Turpentine, Canada, 600. 
Turpentine oil, 608. 



NOTES ON PHARMACOGNOSY. 



703 



Turpentine, Venice, 601. 
Twigs or branches, 273. 
U. Uses of drugs, 24. 
Ulmus, 358. 
Unicorn, false, 227. 
Unicorn root, 228. 
Urticaceae, 112. 
Ustilago, 124. 
Uva ursi, 381. 
Uvae passae, 485. 
Vacuoles, 76. 
Valerian, 230. 
Valerian, American, 224. 
Vanilla, 466. 
Vaseline, 620. 
Vegetable charcoal, 546. 
Vegetable drugs, 44. 
Venice turpentine, 601. 
Veratrum viride, 220. 
Verbasci flores, 434. 
Verbasci folia, 402. 
Vetivert, 169. 
Viburnum Opulus, 349. 
Viburnum prunifolium, 367. 
Virginia snake root, 232. 
Volatile oils, 607—615. 
Waferash, 340. 
Wahoo, 348. 
Water avens, 243. 
Water fennel, 474. 
Water hemlock, 474. 
Watermelon seed, 519. 



Wax, white, 36. 
Wax, yellow, 35. 
Wheat starch, 561. 
White ash, 359. 
White oak bark, 371. 
Wild cherry bark, 333. 
Wild yam, 227. 
Willow bark, 357. 
Wintergreen, 274. 
Witchhazel bark, 364. 
Witchhazel leaf, 398. 
Wood, 145, 147. 
Woods, 286. 
Woolfat, 41. 

Wormseed, American, 454. 
Wormseed, I^evantic, 416. 
Wormwood, 92. 
Xanthoxyli cortex, 368. 
Xanthoxyli fructus, 470. 
Xanthoxylum, 368. 
Xylem, 145, 147. 
Yam, wild, 227. 
Yarrow, 93. 
Yeast, 126, 541. 
Yellow dock, 212. 
Yellow jasmine, 174. 
Yellow parilla, 239. 
Yerba santa, 277. 
Zea, 438. 
Zedoaria, 257. 
Zingiber, 250. 
Zybethum, 41. 



(903 



